Porcelain: A Reylo Fic
by kylowrench
Summary: Reylo - Role swap/Gender swap AU. Wherein Ben is a scavenger and Rey is Kylo Ren.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

On the western reaches of the outer rim, Jakku was a place of scavenging and murder. Ben had seen nothing but that place – for as long as he could remember. When his father had left him there, promising to return, Ben's life changed drastically. He remembers the rain of his home, where he was born. It would rain for hours, sometimes whole days, though he doesn't know whether or not that is really a memory or a wish. However, he keeps that memory safe within his mind. On the hardest days, he'd think of it – rain pelting his skin and the sound of his own laughter. He only wishes this part of his mind to be true, because it is all he has.

On Jakku, living never came easy. Every day, he scavenged, only to come up with enough to trade for food two or three times a week. He knew hunger – deeply and thoroughly. So, being here now, stuck in this cell he did not mind the hunger. He almost welcomed it, because it felt like normal. He could be home now, on his forsaken planet. If he just closed his eyes and pictured it – the dry sand and the warm walls of his AT-AT. It was hardly a life – but it was his.

This was not his life. Tangling with the First Order was never something he wanted to do. And though he'd known for a long time now that his father was never coming back for him, he wished for sad nights alone – imagining the rain.

Ben was scared. More than he had ever been in his whole life. He thought of BB-8, and how much he'd wanted to help the little droid. He thought of Faye, and her determination to get him away from Jakku.

If he had not been so generous as to help the little droid, maybe he wouldn't be stuck here right now. If he had never chased down the dark-skinned Stormtrooper at Niima Outpost on BB-8's word, maybe he wouldn't be staring at the cold walls of a cell aboard a star destroyed and going who knows where.

Unfortunately, that is just who Ben was. He doesn't even regret it, deep down. He just wishes he did.

Ben sat for days in the cell – waiting for the dark girl to come and kill him. He'd wounded her, pretty badly he knew. On Starkiller base, running through the white blanket that covered the ground and the cold air that bit at his cheeks. Truly, he didn't know how he'd managed to accomplish that and in the back of his mind he knew that if he were to face her again, he would not be so lucky.

Thinking of her wild black hair, and the sadness in her eyes, tinged with anger and malice – Ben knew that she was much more than she seemed. A dog of the First Order. No, she was more than that. She was darkness, and pain and confusion and Ben saw all those things in her. He'd watched from afar as she drove her unstable lightsaber into her father's chest, tears streaming from her black-lined eyes.

When he'd fought her, dark makeup was dried in streams on her cheeks. Kyla Ren was nothing if not terrifying – even in her sadness. She had used that sadness as a fuel to rid herself of weakness – in this case it was Han Solo.

Han Solo had been a fantastic human being – though Ben had not met many human beings to compare to. His heart felt heavy with the idea of him being gone.

" _It's a shame," Han Solo had said, "Chewie kinda likes you."_

 _Ben had smiled at the old man and stuffed the gun in his belt loop._

It hurt to think about.

He remembered how the light sword had slashed up her cheek, scarring her porcelain skin. He felt almost bad, seeing her on the ground in front of him panting in pain. He'd wanted to crouch down and lift her small frame from the snow, take her to some place where she could be healed. She was broken, not only from his weak attempts at using the "Force" or whatever she'd called it, but also from her own sad attempts to rid her life of temptation. Ben had seen that, in her encounter with Han. The war that brewed behind her eyes. She wanted power – to rule the galaxy in whatever way she pleased, but she also wanted her family back.

Her desire for power had won. She was terrifyingly beautiful, and it was Ben's hesitation of striking her down that had gotten him here.

He'd stared down at her on Starkiller, and went to move to help her when he'd been grabbed from behind. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and then nothing.

He had awoken here, to the walls.

After a week, it felt like (Ben had been vaguely counting the hours), Ben was weak with hunger and fear. He lay on his side on the floor of the cell, staring at the same wall he'd been staring at since he got here. He'd memorized every chip and scrape along its metal surface. The wall had sat unchanging, the same light hit it every day from the little window that sat on the top corner of the room. Behind that window was another room – brightly lit with plain white walls. Nothing was in it though – just white.

The white from the window cast a square of light onto the wall. The square never moved, only turned off once every 16 hours. The wall was the same, for a whole week now. Unchanging. Ben was okay with that. Counting the contours of it was better than thinking about not being on Jakku and helping BB-8. It was better than thinking about Han. And it was much better that thinking of the dark girl. The wall was okay.

The same wall creaked loudly, and he jumped. Sitting up quickly, he stared intently at it, terrified at where the creak may have sounded from. His heart was pounding, against his will. When it creaked again, he stood up completely. After a few moments, the creak turned into a scrape. The middle panel of the wall slid upwards to form a doorway.

For a whole week, he'd never realized it was a doorway.

Several Stormtroopers filed into the room, and Ben pushed himself into the farthest corner he possibly could, glowering with anger and fear.

"I'm sure you're very hungry." A mechanical voice said. She moved like a wraith into the room. Ben closed his eyes, breathing deeply and trying to calm himself.

"Yes."

"Have you thought at all on my offer?" Her voice was cunning, almost taunting. For a second, he was caught off guard, confused by her question. After a moment, Ben's eyes opened to stare at Kyla Ren's black mask incredulously.

"Are you serious?" He retorted, "I'm sure Luke Skywalker's light sword hitting your face was enough of an answer." He knew he should keep his mouth shut, but he didn't care. Ben was sure he would die either way.

" _You need a teacher." She had yelled to him, "I can show you the ways of the force."_

"What do you know of the force?" Her voice inquired, and Ben remembered the way her mouth moved when she spoke.

"Only what it took to overtake you." He said quietly. "I don't even really know what it is."

"Good." Was her response, and it puzzled Ben. "I will see to it that you are fed – tomorrow we start your training."

Ben's head shot up. "Training?" He asked weakly, "For what?"

"Supreme Leader Snoke requests that your talents in the force be used for our purposes. You will agree, or starve." Ren had been pacing back and forth, her arms behind her back. She came to a stop, and leaned in close to his face. Ben was much taller than her, and her small stature should not have intimidated him so. She smelt like rosemary, and blood, "You will be moved into your own quarters, you will be fed and bathed and you will listen to everything I say," She paused, leaning back on her heels. She gauged his reaction, which was filled with more anger and fear and disbelief than it had been a few moments ago.

Ben laughed, the sound starting low in his throat before he looked down towards her metal mask. "Rey Solo," He taunted her, watching her shoulders tense - his anger got the best of him, "You don't get to tell me what to do. Kill me. I have starved a thousand times in my life and I am not scared to do so now."

Kyla Ren stood silent for a long moment, her small gloved hands clenched at her sides.

"You're so small," He continued angrily, "How can so much hatred live in someone so tiny? How can someone your size hold so much strength?" He was near shouting now, "How can someone with so much pain behind that mask stab their own father through the chest?" He was rambling now, his mind a haze of mixed emotions. Pain, anger, more fear, more anger, realization, more pain. His stomach growled.

Her response was not as he expected, "You seem to have gone partially insane since your stay here," She said coolly, "These rhetoric's mean nothing and they do not make sense. If it is your choice to starve in this room, then so be it. But know this, scavenger, that anger your directing at me can make you powerful. More powerful than you ever imagined." She turned to leave, the wind that came off of her robe blew air through his dark locks, "If you change your mind, knock on the door." With that, she left the room. The Stormtroopers followed after and the wall was once more just a wall.

Ben felt his fist hit the metal behind him, not knowing he had thrown a punch at it. Pain reverberated up his arm and into his shoulder, and he punched it again. Over and over, until his knuckles began to bleed.

He hated her. For keeping him here and for taunting him, for whatever she wanted from him.

Ben wanted to go home.

It didn't take long for the situation to become dire.

Ben used the last of his strength to pound on the door.

In his defense, he was able to last another 4 days before his body gave out on him. He legs had stopped working and he couldn't see past the haze of white that clouded his vision. He was starving. He had tried very hard, though. His defiance of the dark girl stood strong. He had not wanted to give her the pleasure of knowing she'd won – however, there was not much of a choice. With a lot of thinking, and sleeping and wishing for the sands of Jakku, Ben realized he was not ready for death.

Ben had known hunger. He still knows hunger – even more so now. But he does not want to die. He will eat, and then spend another near two weeks in here. Whatever Ren wanted from him, she would never get.

The wall became a door once more, sliding open and causing Ben collapse forward as he had been leaning his body against it. He could hear the two Stormtroopers hover above him. "Alert Madam Ren, and call a feeding droid." One of them had said.

By the time the Stormtroopers had managed to sit him upright against the wall, Kyla Ren was already coming down the hallway. His half-lidded eyes looked towards her, and she was all he saw. A wraith of black moving down a pure white and brightly lit hallway. "How many times have you starved now, scavenger?" She asked as she neared, referring to his earlier jab at her. Her voice was still filtered by the mask, though he was haunted by the tone. It reminded him of the forest.

Ben huffed, "A thousand and one." He said weakly.

"Do you want to start your training?"

"I am ready to eat," He jabbed quickly, "Whatever I have to do after is completely out of survival. Not out of want."

Ren paused for a long moment, staring down at him from where she towered. His weak body had curled into an almost ball. His long legs were brought up to his chest, his head bowed in between his knees. He felt weak and frail. He was sure he looked the same.

"Very well." She crouched in front of him, an arm's length away. "I am optimistic that our methods will suit you."

Ben attempted to scoff, though it came out weak. His eyes turned from the ground to her mask, and he could feel the defiance clear in his face. Her _methods_? Murder, dictatorship over the galaxy? Ben was near insulted. "You know, the mask isn't very fitting for you." He muttered, taunting her as if her presence didn't strike fear in him. He wanted to see her scowl, though he knew he would get no satisfaction.

"Not many people have seen my face, and I am slightly ashamed that you have." Her voice did not sound angry, but rather amused, "I did feel that you might be more lenient to give me the map if you did. I was wrong." She ticked slowly. Ren was not fazed by him, and that was all the more irritating. "Does it bother you?" Ben's face masked one of confusion, "That I am only human? Do you wish I were something more terrifying – a monster? Does it bother you that you and I are much alike?"

"I am nothing like you." His growl was weak.

"So you say," Her head cocked to the side, studying him through her mask, "Though the anger I sense in you says differently. In the forest, I felt that anger as well." She brought her hand up, leather glove hovering over his forehead, "I have seen into your mind, scavenger, and I feel it even now. You think me weak. On Starkiller, that was your downfall. My stature is off-putting to you, so you feel the need to not hurt me-"

"That needs is completely gone now, Ren." Ben quipped angrily, the white haze that shrouded his vision glowed red.

"You used the force to track my movements, my fighting style. Whether or not you knew you did." He felt her brush at his thoughts, and jerked away from her hand. The movement gave him a wave of vertigo. Her hand dropped. "You struck me, out of hatred. Hatred that I killed Han Solo, hatred that I captured you so easily on Takodana. Hatred that you find me beautiful and interesting, but also frightening and strong."

Ben shook, "Hatred and fear are normal feelings, murder is not. I had the chance to kill you, and I didn't."

"That hatred can be used for something much larger than striking down a warrior half your size. However, you are filled with compassion as well. And that will be your downfall, if killing someone trying to kill you is avoided in the future." She quipped back harshly, "Lesson number one – never hesitate."

Ben let out a breath, wishing he had the strength to punch a wall again. His head swam, and his stomach throbbed. "Can I eat yet, or is this incredibly interesting conversation going to last forever?"

"There is a droid on the way." She replied. Right on que, a silver robot came waddling down the hallway. A protocol droid, carrying a tray. It moved so slowly that Ben almost groaned. Atop the tray sat a large bowl, with an equally large cup. The smell of some sort of stew hit him, and if his stomach could scream it would have. His head swam and his body felt weak. He was not used to this level of hunger. He had never gone so long without eating – he was surprised that he wasn't dead.

"After you are finished eating, I will escort you to your quarters to rest. You can eat again after you've regained some strength."

"How long have I been there?" His eyes never strayed from the droid, rattling slowly down the long hallway.

"11 days." Her reply was flat.

He had been right. 11 days and not dead. His body was stronger than he'd thought. That amount seemed almost impossible.

As the protocol droid neared them, Kyla reached up, grabbing the bowl from the tray and handing it to him. Ben took the bowl instantly, not even worrying about the spoon and pouring the liquid down his throat. He ate almost viciously. It only took a few minutes for him to finish, and his stomach was left unsatisfied. The pain however, had lessened.

Kyla Ren had stayed in the same position, crouched in front of him, watching him. It made him slightly dizzier. After a few moments, she reached up and grabbed the cup. Water. Ben's dry throat burned as he drank it. They had given him small amounts of water every day he'd been in the cell – he'd wake up to one full glass a day. However, his lips were still cracked from dehydration.

"Would you like to use a 'fresher before you sleep?" She didn't sound like she cared. He'd imagined her in a different setting, her nonchalant voice taunting him as her blue eyes looked at her fingernails.

She was snobby, he realized. And her tone held a sense of superiority.

He looked away from her, "Please." He stated quietly, upset with himself for not holding out until death. He could see clearer now, and the woman in front of him made him want to do nothing but crawl back into that cell.

Kyla Ren moved closer to him, and he flinched. Cowering away, he glowered at her, his mouth forming a question, "What-"

"Relax, you'll fall if you walk on your own." The mechanical voice filtered through the mask was dangerously close to his ear, and he cringed. Much to his dismay, Ren slid an arm behind Ben's back. Slowly, she pulled one of his arms over her shoulder and lifted him. Vertigo swept through him once more, and his body weight landed on her.

So small, but so strong.

"Don't worry about it," Ren quipped, almost as if she could hear his thoughts. The idea made him scowl.

"Ma'am, would you like us to escort you?" The Stormtrooper's voice seemed urgent. He didn't trust Ben to not try something.

"No, that's fine," Ren replied. Ben's scowl deepened. She knew that he was too weak to do anything, that was obvious. However, with one arm around her shoulders he'd wished he'd had the strength to pull her to the ground and strangle her. That thought was lost quickly.

"Why do you care where I sleep?" He snapped at her, lashing out with the only thing he could, "Aren't you just going to kill me anyway when I don't agree to go along with whatever training you're forcing me into?"

"That a tempting idea." She said flatly, "I could care less about you, scavenger. You are after all, the only man that has ever managed to escape containment all on his own, the only man to ever best me in a fight and leave me with a scar on my face." Her voice had turned dark, and Ben was reminded of the snowy forest once more, "Supreme Leader, however, sees you as strong. He does not like being disappointed. You will meet him tomorrow. Prepare yourself for that, it will not be an easy meeting."

With that, she began walking him down the hallway with little to no effort.

So, so irritating.

The feeling of water on his skin was relieving, however short lived. Ben could not hold himself up for very long. Waves of vertigo rolled over him, over and over again. Days of starvation had not done him well. He'd resulted to leaning against the wall, washing his long hair out at an angle, as well as his body. He wished he could stay in here, under hot water, but the desire to lie down was stronger than his desire to annoy Kyla Ren with long showers. She was waiting outside the door for him to finish, he knew.

He dressed slowly, finding it hard to put on his clothes. After a few long minutes, he'd managed to pull his cut off pants up to his hips, pull his baggy beige shirt over his head and wrapped his arms in their normal bandages. His clothes were dirty, but he did not mind. They smelt like home. He stepped out of the 'fresher, still leaning against the wall. Ren turned her head at the sound of the door.

"I will have clean clothes delivered to you in a few hour-"

"I do not want them. These are fine." He hissed back at her as she once again shrugged his arm over her shoulder, "And I'd like to try walking on my own."

He heard an intake of breath, a small laugh. "If you say so, scavenger." She released him then, and he took a moment to balance himself before taking a wobbly step forward. He pushed himself away from the wall, determined to not let vertigo and the dull ache that still sat in his stomach best him.

Ben walked, as quickly as he could behind Kyla Ren. She led him down more long, white hallways. Finally, they came to a stop in front of a similarly white door, and his head was already pounding. Ren pulled her glove off of her hand, and he flinched at the sight of her skin.

Human hands, soft and delicate like any woman's would be. She had long, porcelain fingers. With a cock of her head, she stared at him, her mask showing no emotion or response to his flinch before pressing her hand into the wall beside the door. A few beeps sounded and the door slid open.

Hand print encoded. Great.

His "quarters" consisted of a large cot, covered with a comfortable looking blanket and a flat pillow. There was a window on the far side of the room, and through it he saw nothing but stars. A light sat on a small end table on the left side of the cot. The room had no other doors.

He stepped inside, still working on balancing himself correctly and made his way towards the bed.

"A droid will be sent to wake you in three hours." With that, the white door slid shut. Ben collapsed onto the bed, thinking distantly about what his plan would be now.

The bed was so comfortable compared to the hard floor of the cell, or the warmth of his AT-AT. He fell asleep quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Stars, for miles and miles. They surrounded Ben from all angles, and his head shot around in confusion. All he could see, from every angle of his head were points of light, distant but also right in front of him – so close he could touch them if he tried. He looked down – more stars, his body was literally floating in mid-air. Confusion flooded his mind, and he began to panic. Only after a few moments, did he feel the small thread of consciousness in the back of his mind. He was dreaming. He so rarely dreamed, he sometimes forgot what it felt like.

He looked around once more, at the stars that surrounded him and he swore for a short moment that they whispered to him. He found himself unable to open his mouth to reply. Some stars were dimmer than others, but they all shone with the same shade of yellow. Bright, blazing, all around him. The dimmer stars twinkled in and out of focus, like looking at a malfunctioning holoprojector.

"This is the force," An old, withered voice bellowed. It sounded far off, as if in the back of his head. The voice was that of an old man, however strong and sure. Ben jumped at the sound, his head shooting around for the voice, "Feel it – the souls of every living being, merging together to form it. The force lives strong in you, Ben. Let it guide you."

His inability to reply made him uneasy. _Who are you?_ He thought.

The voice replied to him, his thoughts ringing out as if actual words. "In my younger days, I was called Obi-Wan Kenobi." The name rung loudly in Ben's head, repeating over and over. "You are named after me, young one."

 _Named after you?_ His inner voice demanded. _Who are you?_ The repeated question was said in a different context. Ben felt a slight breeze in the air next to him, a disturbance that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The air was charged with electricity. Something about it felt almost… off. If that were the right word. Slowly, the stars around him faded out, leaving him in a black abyss. The small breeze picked up, blowing his dark locks harshly across his face. The electricity here increased, and he tried his hardest to move his body, cowering from the air that now blew through the abyss like a hurricane.

 _He is your grandfather, scavenger._ Ben's entire body froze. Her voice, the voice without the mechanical filtering of the mask. He could not see her, no matter which way he turned his head. She echoed around him.

This was his dream, quickly turned into a nightmare of sorts. The wind continued – it smelt of rosemary and blood. Obi-Wan Kenobi, he repeated it in his head over and over, memorizing the name to try to remember when he woke up. It was a name that was familiar – although distantly.

 _How would you know that? How could you? You know nothing of me._ He retorted back.

 _I know everything._ Her voice was right in his ear. A sharp pained started in his chest, and he cried out. His hands reached up to rip at the pain, to tear it from him, only to be met with a searing heat. He looked down and saw the jagged red lightsaber sticking from his chest, as it did Han Solo's. "I am the one you were waiting for, Ben. All those years, it was me. You don't remember me, do you?" He looked from his chest to the dark space in front of him to see her face – streaked with black tears. "Ben Kenobi, the boy I grew up with. Come to die by my blade."

If he could scream, he would have. His hands gripped the hilt of her light sword, trying to shove it away from him. Trying to shove her away from him. However, she was leaning closer. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not stop her full lips from pressing against his ear. He felt her breath on his neck, "You think you can win against me, but you cannot." Her lips moved now, and Ben felt a knot of dread mixed with excitement bundle together in his stomach. Ren's eyes met his, "The beautiful little boy, that belonged to the light, so shrouded in darkness," Her eyes traveled across his face, in which he probably looked like someone kicked him. He could taste her breath on him. The pain of the light sword sticking from his chest was nothing compared to the way he felt as she stared him down. Her hazel eyes burned, the dark streaks beneath them disappearing slowly, her tears becoming nonexistent and she leaned forward. "It's sort of….sad." Her lips brushed his.

 _I don't know what you're talking about, Kyla Ren._ The pain in his chest increased as she laughed.

"You lose."

He snapped back into consciousness – looking around him, he was not in the room he'd expected. The walls around him were a dull grey. Shelves lined each corner of the room, weapons piling onto the floor.

"What the hell was that?" Ben yelled, his head swimming as Kyla Ren came into view.

"I decided we should start early – welcome to the First Order's training room." The first thing he noticed was the lack of helmet, and his breath caught in his throat. Ren's hair was tied up into three buns on the back of her head, the light brown color shining under the dull glow of the ceiling lamps. She was as horrifying breathtaking as last time, and he felt a twinge of anger at the fact. An angry pink scar stretched from the right bridge of her nose to the underside of her chin. His anger was replace with guilt – which only lasted a split moment. "I've decided to start training this evening with dream invasion. Did it work?"

Ben stared at her for a long moment before he shook his head – "I don't know, I don't remember." He was not lying, the dream had faded quickly from his head. His eyes continued to look at Ren, and her hazel ones met his. He vaguely remembered being woken up to eat in his rooms, before falling back asleep near immediately. She must have found a way to cart him here.

"The best defense you can learn in the force is the defense of the mind – if you can block your adversaries from feeling your feelings, you have the advantage." She began pacing back and forth in front of where he sit on the ground, "In time, you will learn to shut me out of them. When that time comes, you will be ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To invade my mind, and my dreams – to practice invasion of the mind so you may use it in the future." She said this so nonchalantly, but Ben could see on her face that the idea of this bugged her more than it bugged him. Maybe that was why she wore the mask – the woman was an open book. Her dark robe dragged across the floor behind her as she walked.

"I don't understand, fully." He replied, breathing deeply as to calm himself down. Ben seemed to constantly have to do that, these days. His anger had always been a small issue. With the junkyard owners on Jakku, especially. Though he'd never felt it for days and days, and not to this magnitude. The old man who worked at Niima Outpost's cleaning station told him that it was the testosterone in him. He hardly believed that. "How am I supposed to accomplish this? How are you doing it? The Force? What is it? Where does it come from and how do I manipulate it? When I defeated you on Starkiller Base, I went into a trance – I could hardly feel my own hands move and I felt your movements before they happened. When I escaped, I knew immediately what to do – to tell the Stormtrooper to remove the restraints and what tone of voice to use. But I have no idea how I did those things, much less if I can do it again." He was yelling now, his voice hitting higher octaves than he wanted. "I won't be of any use to you. I don't want this. Please, just let me go!"

Kyla Ren laughed, and he stared at her in bewilderment. Her laugh was child-like, like a giggle. His anger deepened.

"Touchy touchy." She chirped, looking at him with amusement. "What does your anger tell you?" The question was strange.

"My anger tells me that I'm confused, and that I don't know why I'm here." His fist met the floor with a thump and he felt the old cuts from the cell open once more, he was still crouched on his knees. "My anger tells me that you killed Han Solo, and that I should have killed you. It would have been so easy to do so. But I didn't, because I look at you and I feel your pain." His voice was coming out in quiet bursts. "Please just let me go. I never want to use this power – it has only proved to be frustrating."

"This is why, scavenger boy." Ren walked forward, kneeling down in front of him as she had done the day before. "Your negative feelings are stronger than your positive feelings, you let them overtake you, with no ounce of control." Ben stared at her, his eyebrows furrowed. Freckles spotted across her nose, which turned up slightly at the end. Her top lip was fuller than her lower. He shook his head. "The use of the force is centered on feelings. It is centered on who you are at your core, and can be used to accomplish great things. When I was training to become a Jedi Knight, with Luke Skywalker, I was training with feelings of peace and purity. I meditated a lot, and had a few stress balls to squeeze when I was particularly antsy. But I was suffering. I did not belong in the Jedi world, and because of that the Dark Side called to me. The Dark Side of the force provides many things. Freedom, for one. On this side, we meditate on passion and fear, on suffering and pain and we use those feelings – normal, human feelings – to become stronger. To the Jedi, these feelings are a weakness." Her hazel eyes bore into his, and he stared back, half entranced by her voice. "Supreme Leader Snoke sensed your anger, even from a whole galaxy away. And as you stood over me with my grandfather's blade, he felt you had promise. Even your compassion to not kill me can be used."

"I do not care what your leader thinks of me." Ben replied, his voice defeated. He lurched away from her, hoping to create some distance. The feeling of her breath on his face was not something he wanted to be acquainted with. She was tantalizing. "The Dark Side, the Light. Whatever it is, I do not want it. I want to go back to Jakku."

"You never belonged to Jakku, and you know it." She stood up straight then, staring down at him. She held out a hand. "Now, before we continue more mind practice, you must meet Supreme Leader."

Ben's throat dried up immediately, and he gulped. "No." He replied. "I will not go with you."

"Then you will go in chains." Her voice had a spike of irritation. She was growing tired of listening to him deny her. "You can come willingly, or I will make you, and don't think that I can't."

That was exactly how it ended up. It was Ben's own fault, he'd supposed. The second the words had left her mouth, he was up and running from her. Towards the door at the end of the training room – within mere seconds he was paralyzed, as he had been that day on Takodana. He felt his wrists bound behind him with something he could not see – and his legs stopped moving on his own accord. Now, Kyla Ren was leading him by the arm down a long white hallway. Her helmet had been replaced on her head, and as she dragged Ben along, he knew he could not resist whatever hold she had on him. So instead, he walked beside her quietly, seething. The air seemed to thicken as they approached their destination. They reached a dead end in the hallway. Kyla Ren released his arm, removing her glove as she had done the day before and pressing her hand into the wall – though no door was visible. With a few beeps, a metallic groan sounded throughout the corridor, and Ben stared in bewilderment.

The wall parted, as if cracking down the middle, leading to a much more dimly lit corridor. Ben could see nothing down the corridor but darkness. "What is this?" He question, his voice filled with masked fear.

"A portal – to Moraband." Was all Ren responded before pulling him through the crude doorway. They were immediately engrossed in dim light, the bright white from the corridor aboard the star destroyer snapping away behind them.

"Come." She had released her bound on his hands, knowing that he could not escape here. He walked, slightly behind her. He was trying to reign in his anger, currently. It was apparently doing him no good. Ben was a good man, at heart. He didn't want to feel so furious at this situation. He wanted the images of Kyla Ren's death to erase itself from his mind. He wanted to render himself useless to them – whatever power he had in addition to his feelings was what kept him here. In the 20-minute long trek it took them to reach the crude doorway, he had established that. Ben would not be a murderer – he would not succumb to whatever plan they had for him. He knew, that if he had managed to get away instead of being captured, he would more than likely be training with Luke Skywalker. To become a Jedi. He felt he would be much less opposed to that, then the uncomfortable denial he felt of being here. He did not believe this should be his existence. He did not want rules to live by, he did not want power. Ben wanted a life like anyone else – a family. That is all he'd ever wanted.

The corridor seemed to stretch on forever, and Ben felt the shift in the atmosphere. They must have passed through the portal, though he could not see it. The air was thick and smelt of rosemary and blood – just like she did.

As they reached the end of the hallway, the ceiling rose up into a high arch. A jagged script had been carved into the stone above the archway, and Ben could read it immediately though it was a language he'd never seen.

 _Nwûl tash. Dzwol shâsotkun. Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk. Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan. Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha. Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak._

 _Wonoksh Qyâsik nun._

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me." He recited, feeling a dark power hang heavy in the thick air around him.

"The Sith Code." Ren elaborated for him.

Ben shivered. The archway loomed above him, and as he walked through, he could feel darkness push itself into his mind. Images flashed through his head, images of rain and of blood. Dead children surrounded him, and in his mind he screamed.

Ben had stopped walking in the corridor, his eyes wide with horror as he stared at the ground. He saw nothing but blood.

"Do not let it consume you. Ignore the images. This place was not meant to be seen by those who dwell in the light as you do. The temple is trying to reject you." Ren pulled on Ben's arm, leading him down the corridor.

Ben found some part of his mind push at the images, and after a few moments he was able to rid them completely. "Welcome to the first Sith temple of Moraband…..young apprentice." The voice that spoke to him now was deep. The sound of his sent a wave of panic down his spine. "Tell me…..what is your name?"

"B-Ben." He replied, trying to catch a hold of his breath. Slowly, he raised his eyes upward at the towering figure that stood at the head of the large room. He was at least 8 feet tall, and frail. His bald head was ravaged with scars, and his face had seen many years. "You are Leader Snoke, I'm assuming." He tried to sound defiant, though the action was useless.

Snoke cackled. "Yes….that is what my underlings call me." Ben's eyes moved from the towering, goblin-like man to the woman beside him. She had knelt down on one knee, her head bowed. Slowly, she rose.

"Supreme Leader." Kyla Ren greeted the man.

"Kyla Ren…how are you feeling?" He towering man mused, sounding as if he cared very little. Ben assumed that he didn't. "I sense a great amount of…..reproach in you. Are you troubled…..by our guest?"

"Only because he represents a battle I lost, Supreme Leader." Ben had not felt at all that she was upset by his being there. He had only felt her silent amusement at him. Though, this did not surprise him at all. The wound on her face was still fresh, still healing – and he doubted the defeat had not left a dangerous mark on her already haywire string of emotions.

Snoke laughed again, the sound menacing. "Kyla Ren…..you have failed me many times now. You are lucky…that I gave you this task. You are lucky that I do not….strike you down where you stand. If not for our years and years of…..training, and the little time I have left to train someone new….you would be dead."

Ben swore he saw her flinch. "I understand, Supreme Lead-" Her words were cut off by a loud groan. It had come from her, Ben realized after a moment and he stared in horror as her back suddenly arched. Her head fell backward, and she shook. Her body convulsed, and though she was still on her knees, Ben could see her toes tense forward. The points of her boots lifted off the ground, slowly followed by her legs. She did not make any noise, besides her labored breath. Her body continued to shake.

He wanted to scream, but the sound was caught in his throat. Kyla Ren was in agonizing pain – pain that was dealt into her head by a force far greater than her.

"Do not fail me again…..Kyla Ren." With that, Snoke released whatever he'd done to her. Ben watched her slump to the ground, holding herself up on her elbows.

She straightened her back, slowly. "Yes, Supreme Leader." Her voice came out in a pained whisper.

"Remove your mask…I want to see the mark the boy left on you."

Ren raised her hands to her head, pressing a few buttons on the underside of the helmet. Ben heard a metallic hiss, before she lifted the mask away from her face. The first thing he saw was the blood. It drizzled from her nose down to her chin, and over her neck.

Ben reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of ripped cloth that he kept for cleaning his face back on Jakku, and handed it towards her.

Kyla Ren looked at him with a look of pure hatred – her eyes slitting into a terrifying glare. Snoke laughed once more.

"So pathetic…..this young scavenger is." Snoke's hand reached out, and suddenly Ben's body flew forward, the cloth discarded on the floor next to where Kyla Ren sat. His knees hit the bottom step of the dias, and Snoke towered over him, standing now. The creature glided down a few steps. "You would care for the woman who killed your mentor…and planned to destroy all of your….friends?"

In a strained voice, Ben replied, "It is beyond my control, usually."

"What is?" The creature demanded.

"Helping those who need it," Ben paused, his voice filled with terror. "It comes naturally to me."

"You are a lot like…..your family, young one." Snoke's expression turned sour. "They are all dead…..did you know? Your father was the last of the Jedi Knights that were slaughtered…..during the rise of the Knights of Ren." Ben's mouth filled with bile, and he found himself unable to move or speak. Snoke was holding him there, paralyzed. Much like Kyla Ren had, only it felt darker. "All of the apprentices were killed first…..the children Luke Skywalker so naively trained…..you were supposed to be one of them."

"Who," Ben could hardly form words, "was my father?" His voice was filled with pain, and so much anger that it surprised him. The only images he had of his father flashed through his mind – dark hair, and startlingly white smile. But he had never been able to put a face to the figure – much less a name. The pain that radiated through Ben's body now was nothing compared to the ache he felt to see him again. Ben wanted to cry.

Dead. The father he waited for could not be dead.

"His name was….Nimo Kenobi." Snoke replied coolly, "And he was a fool….just like his father."

Obi-Wan Kenobi. A name reverberated through his skull, and Ben could not understand where it came from.

"I hope you will…..enjoy your stay with the First Order," Snoke released his hold on Ben, and threw him back to where he stood before. Ben crumpled down onto his knees, his face a mask of defiance. "Your father is dead…..and I am the one that killed him. Let the anger…you feel for me flow through you…Kyla Ren will guide you." The creature turned his gaze to the bloodied girl next to him. "Leave now…..train him…..he will be a powerful ally."

"Yes, my master." Ren's shaking voice replied. She stood, and grabbed Ben's arm, hauling him up and back through the archway.

Ben felt her anger radiating from her all the way back through the portal. It mirrored his own. Snoke knew more about him than he knew about himself.

He did not know how to react to what had been told to him – he stored it in the back of his mind for another time. When he was alone, and he could cry all he wanted.

"You are a fool!" Kyla Ren shouted once they were back aboard the star destroyed. Her hand connected with his throat, and she shoved him against the wall. "This is your fault. My master doubts me, because of you." Through the mask, which she had replaced on their walk back to the doorway, he heard ragged breathing – filtered. "I have spent years building this, training under Supreme Leader's wing and you – a mere scavenger - managed to use what little power in the force you have to defeat me." She had leaned in close to his face, and he gasped for her. He could feel hers upon his cheek. "I wish I could kill you, slowly, painfully. And tie up your trader Stormtrooper friend to watch." With that she released him, and he crumpled for the second time that day, clutching his throat.

His gaze turned up to her, his eyes watering. "I would rather you did kill me, then force me to join that _thing_." He shouted back at her. Slowly, and a little dizzily, he rose. He was a full head and a half taller than her, and he got right in her face and she had done to him. "I do not care about how ashamed you are of defeat. Get me off of this damn destroyer, and I'll disappear all on my own." He said harshly.

Her lip turned up at the corner, and she stood on her toes to face him better. "You will never leave here. You will never return to your traitor friends and you will never see that damned planet again."

Ben reared back, uncomfortable with her proximity. They stared at each other for a long moment, both seething. Then, he turned on his heel and stalked away from her. "I'll find my room on my own, Rey Solo." He quipped towards her, walking down the long white corridor.

He did not hear her follow.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note*

I hope you guys are enjoying this so far, though I see there isn't many of you. I have never written a story before, but hey, I'm a little proud for my first try. Here's the first thing I'd like to say – If you have any tips for me in making this fanfic prevail, PLEASE message me on my tumblr: .com

It would be greatly appreciated to have feedback and to know what you guys would think would make this better.

I've wanted to read a genderswapped reylo for a while now, and being slightly frustrated that I can't seem to find any, I decided to write one. I've added in a few things, but I was trying to keep really close to the character's original personality. I think that's important. Ben Solo with anger, Rey with a spark of lightheartedness. Because of wanting to be true to personality, I am not going along with the whole force-accepting Rey bit from the movie, at least up until now. I don't know if it works or not for you guys, but it does in my head.

Also, I know Kyla Ren sounds totally lame but I couldn't seem to come up with a name for female Kylo soooooo the o became and a.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

 **Chapter 3**

Ben is alone for days. At first, it bothers him. The door to his rooms remains closed, and Kyla Ren never makes an appearance. The feeding droid comes twice a day with full meals, and distantly Ben wonders why she bothers. He isn't training after all, but he supposed she needed time to compose herself around him. He understood now, how hard she'd been trying before their meeting with Snoke.

That still haunted him slightly. Though brief, the power radiating off of the creature during their encounter was tremendous. The heaviness in the air, the uncomfortable weight of the temple – the feelings had come from Snoke. That idea was terrifying to Ben, and he wondered distantly how the Resistance could ever defeat someone so strong. Not in physical strength, but in power over The Force.

Ben had spent the last few days reading on the holoreader provided for him. Stories of the Jedi Order and the Old Republic, and also of Darth Bane and the Sith. He was beginning to understand the Force, and beginning to understand its part in him. However, that was what bugged him the most. Out of Kyla Ren leaving him in this room (though better than the cell), of Snoke's ultimate power, of the newfound knowledge of his father's death – it was the overwhelming fact that The Force had called to him, on multiple occasions. The world had felt bigger, and this….destiny, or whatever it was was too large for him to comprehend. Ben longed for the sands of Jakku once more. The normality of it, the life he was damned to.

By his father, who was dead. Oddly enough, that had not surprised Ben. Though it hurt – the unsettling of his stomach and the weight in his heart, he had known deep down. And frankly, Ben hardly knew the man. Nimo Kenobi was a mystery to him. The first night after his meeting with Snoke, Ben had cried. A lot. And then he'd thought, and dwelled on the utter tragedy that was his life up until BB-8 showed up on his forsaken sand hole. He understood, but didn't. The weight in his heart never left over the continuing days, even as he read incredible stories about the justice of the Old Republic, about the peace that the Jedi had brought to the galaxy. How they fell was still a mystery to him, but it was fantastic all the same.

Ben had already made the decision – he would train with Kyla Ren, but betray her requests as well. Where she asked for anger, he would give compassion and where she asked for fear, he would give peace. Getting to this point, however, was going to be the hard part. The Force had touched him before, and he believed that if he tried hard enough, he could bring it back. His understanding of it was small, hardly malleable. From what he read, learning how to connect with the Force took up most of the Jedi padawan's first 4 years of training. The Force was strong with him, that he knew. The way that Snoke requested his training and the way that the dark girl had agreed, though he wasn't sure she'd had much of a choice. He could access his power – he just had to learn.

And learn he would.

When he finally got away from this place, he would return to the Western reaches. Maybe not on Jakku, scavenging, but back to the life he was supposed to have. Maybe he would get a decent job, and a decent ship. Or maybe, he would join Faye and BB-8 in the Resistance. He'd already felt that Faye was probably wondering where he was – if she'd woken up after her fight with Ren. The thought darkened him for a moment.

Faye, the only true friend he'd ever had. He didn't even know she was alive. The weight in his chest grew heavier.

When Kyla Ren finally returned to acknowledge Ben's existence, it was not in the way he expected.

The stars were back, but this time not prominent. They soared about him as an endless ceiling, but his feet were grounded. He could walk, and breathe and even assumed he could take if he tried. Ben wondered around his own dreamscape for a moment, calling out to the man who had spoken to him last time – Obi-Wan. He'd wanted to know more about his past and his family, though the thought only lasted so long.

As he walked, he saw a figure up ahead, and he smelt the rosemary wind before he could even see her. The wind was calmer this time, tamed. He approached slowly, taking her in. Her helmet was off once more, and though in darkness her porcelain skin glowed. She sat facing him, her head bowed and her eyes closed. Her legs were crossed beneath her, her palms resting on her knees. For the first time since she had taken her helmet off after his capture on Takodana, she looked peaceful.

Her beauty failed to amaze him. The darkness that shrouded her was heavy with longing and malice, but it did not reach the porcelain of her face. Though he'd scarred her, the enchanting lure of her flesh kept her beautiful. He noticed in detail, for the first time without distraction, the freckles that dotted her nose and the disarray that was her hair.

Beautiful and terrifying – the worst mix in a person, he decided.

"Kyla Ren." He'd stood in front of her for a long moment, "Curious seeing you here."

Her eyes did not open, "Is it really that curious, scavenger boy?" She did not move from her meditative pose, "Invasion of dreams happens easier than you believe."

"So this is an accident, then?" Ben stood for another moment, before he slowly sank to the ground a few feet away from her. He mirrored her position, his large hands splaying out onto his knees.

"Not entirely," She replied calmly, "I am asleep, as you are, though I reached out to you." Slowly, her hazel eyes blinked open, "I find it easier to tolerate people when I'm asleep, it is easier to remain calm." Her eyebrows furrowed then, and Ben heard her mutter something beneath her breath.

Ben gazed at her face for a long moment, his eyes wandering again over the porcelain plains. She confused him, he'd thought dejectedly. She was fire, and then she was ice and then she was fire again only to sit in front of him as neither. "Why did you reach out to me, then?" He said, breaking the short silence. "You are under no obligation to speak to me, I do not expect you to. I damaged your pride, it is okay to be angry."

She laughed, though it didn't sound like a laugh that would come from a normal person. It was tinged with insanity, and it lasted a mere second. The sound struck a small amount of fear into Ben – once more, she had done something human. The idea was still foreign to him.

"You do not need to tell me what is and isn't okay," She replied, quickly catching herself. "I feel anger with or without your existence. I reached out to you to ask if you are going to continue training." Her eyes closed once more, and her head bowed, "I could force you, but I do not see the point. You can go back to the cell if you choose not to, and die here. Though, I suppose that's not even a choice at all." She paused then, taking a deep breath, "I can tell Supreme Leader that you refuse. But it is up to you, in the end. There is no way to force you to come with me to the training room, on your own accord and do the things I say as a student would." A small smile donned her lips then, "I ask you here because I do not want to react badly at your answer."

Ben pursed his lips, a long breath leaving his lungs. He pondered for a second over his already made decision. He could die, he guessed. He didn't want it, but he could. He didn't have to damn himself to years with the dark girl. But then again, of course he did. Ben wanted life – he wanted sand and dry heat, and friendship. He wanted the Falcon – a home.

He would not die here.

"I will train with you." He said, after moments of silently staring at the floor. "But I cannot guarantee that your methods in the Force will be mine." He looked at her face once more, and her eyes were open again. A small amount of shock had crawled to her face.

"You will know no other way," She replied, though she sounded pleased, "You may believe differently if you'd like. I will come to get you from your rooms tomorrow at midday." She looked at him for a long time then, "You will not speak to me, you will only follow and do as you are asked. Can you do that, scavenger?"

"My name is Ben," he replied, "and yes."

"I will not waste my time on formalities."

They were at an agreement. A tense, informal agreement but an agreement all the same.

Just as Ren had said in his sleep, she'd fetched him at noon the next day and every day after that. Her helmet was on her head, never once taking it off as she had during their first session in the training room. They trained for long hours, meditating. She'd instructed him to concentrate on his feelings, to reach out with them and feel the force that lay dormant inside of him. He did just those things, using the happiest memories he could muster. After the first few hours, on that first day, he felt it respond. At first, it did not feel like much. A ringing filled his ears, but it wasn't harsh. It was as if someone was singing to him – high noted and beautiful. He relished in that for a small moment, pushing harder and willing it to come to him. And it did. The stars spanned out before him, and he grasped them with his mind. He felt them breathe inside of him, giving him energy and strength.

The Force was beautiful in nature, and he felt it deeply.

By day three, he could lift small stones into the air. And day four, he could spin them in circles around each other.

If Ren acknowledged his progress, she did not say.

By the tenth day of training, she had him stand. Every moment had been spent meditating, and the change sent a ring of excitement hurtling through him. He felt her signature change then, to something different than the usual unstable dark red energy. It threw him off guard. It felt like pride, but he was not sure.

"Today, we are going to practice your first round of force combat." Kyla Ren said, her voice unchanging as she stood a yard away from him, "It won't be much, but it is important to learn. Now that you can manipulate objects within the Force, we will see if you can stop them in air." She walked to the other end of the room then, rummaging through the shelves for a moment before producing three long wooden knives. They blade was made out of Corellian mahogany, it looked like though he couldn't see from such a distance, and the handles glinted with silver steel. "These are training knives. They hurt on impact, and bruise, but cannot wound you much beyond that. I will throw them towards you, and you will stop them."

Ben nodded, bouncing on his heels a little to prepare himself. He breathed deeply, calming himself as he reached for the Force. He felt it at the back of his mind, waiting for him to need it. "I'm ready." He said quietly.

Before Ben could even see Ren's hand moved, a sharp pain hit his shoulder. He gasped inwardly, before letting out a small groan. His hand touched the piece of skin where the wooden knife hit, and felt it throb. "Concentrate, scavenger boy." Kyla Ren said slowly.

He nodded back, a slight amount of irritation surfacing within him. The feeling increased every time the knife hit him, and though he called to the Force, he was not able to stop a single knife. He cursed to himself as one hit his shin, grabbing for his leg with an angry growl.

"Use your anger, it can help." Her voice was calm through the mask.

Up until this point, Ben had been able to avoid this. He had also managed to escape her notice. Though he nodded towards her, he breathed deeply. He willed himself to be calm, and within a few moments, he felt the irritation fade away. It was replaced by acceptance, and a small amount of peace. He wasn't quite good at brandishing that particular part of his mind. Small steps, he supposed. Peace was never something that came easily to him.

Another wooden knife hurtled through the air, and this time, his eyes locked on its movement towards him. He felt a wave of power come from his fingertips, though weak. It felt like a gust of wind, hurtling from his hands and into the open space between him and the spinning knife.

The knife stopped, for a brief second before clattering to the floor with a clank.

"Good!" Kyla Ren said, almost sounding elated that he had accomplished it.

Ben felt the same satisfaction.

Kyla Ren watched as the boy stopped the wooden knife, and felt a surge of pride wave through her. Only ten days in, and the scavenger was already much stronger than any other apprentice would be. She probed at his mind, feeling what he felt for only a small moment. If he noticed, he did not say. Ren wasn't surprised to feel happiness where there should have been frustration. She'd suspected this, the boy caught on quick.

However, it would be short-lived. Ren supposed she should be upset with the dim-wittedness that was this attempt at keeping to the light, but she was not. With a dark sider as a teacher, he would find no other way to learn, when it came to it. He would never improve from the basics with a lightsaber, or with using the Force to push things or throw them, because he did not know how until he taught her.

Ren could mold him in whatever way she wanted, all the while his naivety would stay put.

It was almost too hilarious to think of, the boy ailing for the light but missing it completely. For now, it was where he cowered, but she would find a way to rid him of it and redeem herself in Supreme Leader's eyes.

She'd thought that discovering his family would do so, but that only seemed to make him more determined.

The scavenger had brought her a world of pain and anger. Though, she supposed this was always something she felt. His features bothered her the most, in all of 14 years he had not change. His structure grew with him, but his eyes were still kind, his mouth still wide. Ren could picture him, holding up a blade of grass with the Force and smiling at her with the widest smile he could muster.

"Madam Rey, look!"

Ren had remembered congratulating him, and telling him to go show Master Luke.

She pushed the thought from her mind. It was her years with the young Jedi that she missed the most about her old life. They were pure, and beautiful children who she'd wished she could give the world. Instead, she'd taken it from them and she supposed that hurt the most of all. Though many did not die by her hand, they were all dead because of her.

All besides little scavenger boy here.

She had only been 15 when she'd arranged the attack on the Jedi temple on Yavin 4, and today, knowing who Snoke was and knowing the life that she had damned herself to she is not sure she would have made the same decision. She should have just run – from the Jedi and from Snoke, back to Leia and Han Solo. However, one can never deny their own destiny. She had learned that when Anakin Skywalker's force spirit had found her in the cave of Yavin 4, telling her she was the only one that could do it.

"We're done for the day." Ren said quietly, walking to the middle of the room to retrieve the wooden knife, "You've done well. Take the rest of the night for yourself." She shoved the knives back into one of the weapon crates that sat on the shelf nearest to her.

"I mean, there's not really much to do around here." Ben replied, looking at her skeptically. She hated that. His eyes wandered far too much on her and lingered in place she did not want them to.

That was the worst part about being a woman, she decided. Men always thought they had a right to look, and even worse, this particular man thought her weak because of her looks.

She couldn't help her slim frame, or her height, but she thought she had proved to the scavenger on multiple occasions now that her strength overpowered his.

Ren felt herself wanting to slap him for looking at her at all.

"Come, we'll go to Moraband." She replied, keeping her tone flat, "There's an old temple there-" Ren saw his look through the visor of her helmet.

"I'm not sure I'm completely okay going back there." Was all he said, his tone nervous. He was wringing his hands, which she noticed him doing a few times in the past. The amount of nervous apprehension he felt in this place was sort sweet, she supposed. He was so fragile, and yet he'd deemed her that instead.

"We're not going to Snoke's temple," She said, somewhat soothingly, "We'll take a transport and land on the planet. There's an old library, only able to access by Force users. I think you might enjoy it." She crossed the room toward him then, "You deserve it, you've worked hard, apprentice."

The boy stared at her for a long moment. Ren felt a wave of appreciation roll from him to her – he was happy that she was pleased with him, "If I go, will you take off the mask?" He pondered, his eyes burning. She hated that, too. "You really do look much, much better without it. I probably couldn't concentrate on reading with a robot watching me." The tone had returned to his voice – the tone he used when he was taunting her. The scavenger was treading on thin water.

"Are you sure you can concentrate at all with all that built up male tension you're feeling, scavenger?" Was all she replied, before she circled around him. She kicked her foot towards the back of his knees, watching him crumple down to rest on them.

"What the hell?" He all but yelled, attempting to whirl his body around to face her. She stopped him with the Force, willing him to stay in place.

"You can't expect me to walk you to the flight hangar without being bound, can you?" She bent down to his height then, producing a pair of cufflinks from the wall next to them. "From what I hear, you're a very skilled pilot." She spoke close to his ear.

If he wanted to be an ass, she could taunt him as well. She felt his physical reaction, the accelerating of his heart. She snorted. Her hands locked the cufflinks into place and she pulled him harshly upward as she stood.

"This really isn't necessary." He said to her, breathless.

"I know."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The walk to the flight hanger was annoyingly slow. The restraints burned the scavenger's wrists, every time he tried to move his hands. He kept slowing down to examine the red, angry skin. Purposely doing so as to irritate Kyla Ren. As if looking at the skin would make her take the cufflinks off, and she had fastened them rather tightly.

On purpose, of course.

The look of amazement that donned the scavenger's face as they entered the hangar was one that she'd seen before. The ceiling towered three stories above them, and the area was crawling with close to a thousand Stormtroopers, as well as a few Shadowtroopers preparing their TIE fighters for deployment. The floor stretched before Ben to a length of thirty yards, ending at a shield that closed off a large pocket leading out into space. He could see stars beyond the blue glow, and his heart ached for freedom.

At the other end of the room, Ren spotted a familiar head of ginger hair. It had been tied back in a tight bun, and the woman's features were harsh and cold. The woman's face turned in their direction, the permanent scowl that Ren had often been the cause of deepened.

Pulling Ben along with her, Kyla Ren made her way towards General Hux. The red-haired woman did not seem so pleased to see them. "Can I help you with something, Ren?" She said snootily. Her eyes glared daggers at the Knight, before landing on Ben. "Going somewhere with the prisoner?"

Ben felt acid fill his throat.

"He is no longer a prisoner, but an apprentice." Kyla Ren's mechanical voice replied. "I am taking him to Moraband, will you allow a crew to ready my ship?" Ben could tell by her tone that the dark girl wouldn't take no for an answer.

General Hux eyed Ben cautiously, before snorting. "He's not much, is he?" Her blue eyes wandered up and down Ben's frame, taking him in. "For what purpose will you go to Moraband? Supreme Leader requested he be trained here."

"That is my business, actually. And I have already told Supreme Leader Snoke of my wishes to passage him there. We will return in short time."

Ben caught her lie, and tried his best to keep his face clear of any surprise. Why should she need to lie?

He sent a look to General Hux, examining her harsh features. She looked….smug. Ben could guess easily that Hux was probably much more likeable in Snoke's eyes than Kyla Ren was, and probably now stood at a higher authority. Her body was poised as if she was trying to come off as superior.

It didn't affect Kyla Ren at all, from what he could see. However, he could feel the small tinge of irritation that had clouded her signature.

Afterall, Ren had failed Snoke and in the process, allowed Han Solo and Chewbacca to rig the oscillator with explosives. It was almost directly Kyla Ren's fault that Starkiller had failed.

Ben didn't see it that way, but he supposed he could understand how Snoke would.

General Hux's mouth turned into a sneer, "Maybe I should check with Supreme Leader first," She started, "I wouldn't want to undermine his orders. And you shouldn't want to either, Ren." Her voice was as acidic as her cold face.

Kyla Ren did not saying anything for a moment, and Ben was surprised when he felt her release his arm from her hold. Her hand shot forward, closing around Hux's throat. "Do not taunt me, General. I am not in the mood. You will ask a crew to ready my ship, and I will go to Moraband."

Hux's eyes widened, and she stared down at Ren with hatred, "I will be informing Supreme Leader of this, R-" Her words cut off as Ren's hand gripped her throat tighter. Ben could feel anger mixed with shame coming off of her signature in waves.

Kyla Ren hated this woman, probably more than even she felt necessary.

"I really do not care what you tell Supreme Leader. I am not breaking any rules and you are foolish to believe that you could ever possibly have authority over me. Now, get a crew to ready my ship. _Please_." With one final squeeze, Ren released the woman. Hux crumpled to the ground, hand on her throat. She glared up at Ren and nodded towards the group of Stormtroopers who had be watching on with apprehension.

Ben kept his distance as Kyla Ren led him towards the flight bay. The Stormtroopers followed, moving in unison towards a large black ship. The ship's wings stood straight up, almost touching each other. Ben recognized the ship distantly, he had seen it in the sky that day on Takodana though he was not awake to board it. The Stormtroopers filed up the entrance ramp, and after a few moments Ben could hear the ship hum to life.

Ren watched impatiently, and the scavenger besides her fiddled with the chain of his restraints. "Who is that woman?" He asked dejectedly. He'd heard of General Hux from Faye a few times on their journey, though he did not know much of her.

"General Hux is the lead flight commander, as well as the lead commander of the Stormtroopers." Ren's covered face turned in his direction, "I'm sure you will come to find her as intolerable as I do."

The Stormtroopers marched back down from the ship, one staying behind on the entrance ramp. "Madam Ren, the ship is prepped for take-off. Would you like one of us to pilot you to Moraband?"

"No, that will be enough. You are dismissed." And with that Kyla Ren pulled Ben onto the ship.

Moraband was a strange planet. As they had come out of hyperspace, Ben had noticed that it's surface was a dark gray – the color of ash. When they came through the atmosphere, Ben could distantly see the stark mountains and rough, rocky terrain that covered the planet's crust. It was a planet of gray stone, for miles and miles. It took Kyla Ren a moment to find a flat place to land, though she seemed to know where she was going.

She hadn't spoken to Ben the whole ride through hyperspace, and he was slightly grateful for the peace. She had removed the restraints and shoved him into a chair in the back corner of the cockpit. He spent his time watching her fly and examining the small room around him. The walls were covered with switches and blinking lights, and Ren seemed to know what all of them did and how they worked.

Ben distantly remembered his last time flying, and his heart ached once more. His first time had been exhilarating, and his last had after he'd met Han Solo.

The ship descended slowly, and Ben felt a twinge of motion headache spike through his brain.

As the ship touched down, Ben's mind ignited with heat. He gasped, his hands flying involuntarily to clutch at the sides of his face. He felt the skin under his finger pulse, and the pain continued to increase. A low groan sounded from his mouth, out of his control. His hands clutched tighter around his skull and confusion flooded his thoughts. The pressure was tremendous, and he distantly remembered the feeling of her invading his mind on Starkiller Base.

Was she killing him? "Wh-"

Kyla Ren was at his side in a second, replacing his hands with her own. "Just relax," She said, though her voice was far from soothing. "The atmospheric pressure here is different than most other planets. The gravity is stronger. The pain will recede in a few moments, however your shoulders will hurt."

"I don't," Ben winced as his head throbbed, "understand."

"You don't need to and it's awfully hard to explain. The weight of your body is heavier, and your brain is trying to reject the forced gravity."

The idea didn't make sense at all in Ben's mind – his brain was _heavier_?

Slowly, the pain in Ben's head decreased, and Ren's hands stayed on the side of his face. He stared at her mask, his breathing escalated from the small bout of pain. A splitting headache lingered where the pain was before, and he closed his eyes.

"Relax, scavenger." His heart was racing a mile a minute. He felt her push small bundles of feelings towards him, trying to calm him. The feelings were normal, literally normal – what his head would feel like if there were no pain there as well as feelings of calm and of the sunset. She was trying to relax him.

Wasn't this the woman who had wanted to kill him in the hall outside of the portal hardly more than a week ago?

Ben sensed that she had multiple personalities. The dark girl was all over the place with her emotions. The thought made his head pound harder.

"Will you please not call me that?" He hissed through his teeth. "It's more infuriating then you think."

"Look at me." Her voice was different this time, and Ben felt a pang of anxiety and annoyance come from her signature. Though something else lingered beneath its surface. "If you don't relax, the pain will linger. I apologize for forgetting about the pressure, I am already accustomed to the feeling. We will not make it to the library if you are unfit to walk – and it is quite a walk. There is knowledge that can be learned there that is significant to your training. You're no good to Snoke dizzy or sick from gravity sickness." Her voice was sharp, as if she was pep talking him. "Gravity sickness caused at this magnitude will last for weeks."

Ben opened his eyes slowly, again meeting the metal of her mask. She was close enough that if she had not been wearing the helmet, he could have felt her breath once more on his face. His heart beat accelerated further.

"You're not relaxing." She hissed at him. "Don't think of the headache, push it from your mind. The pain is a natu-"

"If you would back up a little, I might be able to get a handle on my heart rate, Ren." His voice was shaky from the scent of her. Rosemary and blood. The smell had terrified him before, but now he'd grown used to it. The rosemary was the strongest, the underlying scent metallic and coppery. It made his head swim as he remembered the few dreams they shared – they had been filled with the scent of her.

The dark girl's shoulders tensed, and slowly her hands slid down his cheeks. Her signature changed once more, this time a feeling of pure anger washed over him from where she crouched. One hand stayed behind to rest on his throat, and her gloved fingers wrapped around his windpipe. Ben gasped, bringing his hands up to claw at hers. He remembered how she'd choked General Hux earlier, and dread filled him.

She wasn't choking him very hard, but the action didn't fail to cause Ben's veins to flood with fear. "I am trying to help you, you idiot." She scoffed at him, her hand tightening for a moment before she let him go. "Though I suppose I don't know why I even should. If Snoke didn't want you, I'd kill you for thinking of me that way." She shoved at his shoulders and stood.

"Excuse me?" He scoffed in return, his hand rubbing his throat. Red clouded his vision, and he tried to reel in his anger as he had been doing since his training had begun. The attempt was futile. "Don't flatter yourself, Kyla Ren. Your proximity does not _fluster_ me, but rather makes it so terrifyingly hard to breathe that I could lose my mind." He spat at her. Slowly, Ben rose to his feet, his knees a little wobbly and his head heavy with vertigo. "You should be happy that you terrify me to the point of uselessness." It felt like a lie as it left his mouth, and that shamed him even more. He hadn't even identified that feeling up until this point, and with a heavy amount of shame, Ben realized he was _attracted_ to Kyla Ren. He wanted to vomit. At the same time, he wanted to punch her.

"Your physical reaction to seeing my face and smelling me says differently, scavenger," She turned away from where he stood in front of the chair, anger flowing from her, "You're despicable. Pull yourself together and meet me outside." With that, she stalked out of the cockpit.

Ben stood staring at where her back disappeared through the doorway, and he seethed. His arms encircled his stomach, and now he really did feel sick. He was such a stupid little _boy_ , though it was not the first time he had desired someone who should be undesired. He thought distantly to Faye, and how it had felt when he hugged her. Why couldn't he have felt attraction for her?

As a child, he thought his scavenger guardian on Jakku had been attractive. He stayed up late nights as a young teenager, imagining her with him. She was almost 15 years his elder, but he could not help it. He supposed it was a natural human thing, so he felt no shame on the nights where he'd shove his hand down his pants before sleeping.

This, however, was different. Much different. Though he didn't imagine himself shoving his hand down his pants for _Kyla Ren_ , the shame that he should have felt as a child lingered on his mind.

She was beautiful, and that was the worst part.

However, it was slightly pleasing that it bothered her so much.

Slowly, Ben tested his legs. The headache had not disappeared, and neither did the dizziness, but it was manageable. It reminded him of being dehydrated, walking through dry sands towards Niima Outpost. He walked little by little, until his legs no longer felt like jelly, though his body felt ten times heavier than usual.

This would be a long walk, probably longer than it needed to be.

Kyla Ren did not speak to Ben as she led him across the rocky plain. There wasn't a single tree in sight, though off in the distance to his left he could see a large tower, jutting from the ground at a grotesque height. He'd felt the presence of Snoke from the second he'd stepped off of the entrance ramp, and knew that that was his temple.

The air around him was cool, which kept him from overheating though he was overexerting himself with his newfound weight. He asked if she could stop quite a few times. She didn't seem happy to do so, grumbling about dumb men beneath her breath. She'd passed him a canteen at one point, which helped slightly with his pounding headache.

After a few hours, Ben had to sit down. Sweat dripped from his brow and it felt a relief to be off of his feet. Kyla Ren had stopped a few yards ahead of him, her head cocked in his direction in distaste. She was used to the weight of this planet, and had felt far less exertion that he had.

"Your years as a scavenger, walking through mountains of sand did you no good in the strength department." Ren came and sat down on a boulder about ten feet in front of him. She was keeping her distance. She didn't seem tired at all. She unclipped her robe and let it fall to the ground behind her. Ben wondered distantly about why she never dressed in any attire except this one. On missions, and even now, on a long hike. Heavy robes and layers upon layers.

"Aren't you warm?" Ben asked, drinking from the canteen.

Ren's metal helmet cocked to the side, "Not at all, actually." Her tone was mocking. "We're almost there. Though, with your pace, we probably won't be there for another hour."

"Wasn't this supposed to be my afternoon off?" Ben grumbled. "It was your choice to do this godawful hike, so don't patronize me." His tone was angry, though there wasn't much feeling behind it.

"You know, we are literally gaining nothing but more hatred towards each other the more we speak. So why don't you shut your mouth and quit complaining. You're about to entire one of the most sacred temples that resides within the Force and you're worried about a ground travel."

"Maybe I like talking to you." Ben said lightly, smug. He would use this to his advantage, though foolish. This situation was forced – him training and him being here, better yet. She would survive being a little uncomfortable. And if Ren killed him for it, he's not sure he'd even be upset to fall to her blade, if he'd known he'd gotten to her.

Ben could hold nothing over her head, and he couldn't defeat her in a fight now that she wasn't injured. Baiting her was sadly all he had. That thought sent a twinge of anxiety through him. He was stuck. He pushed the feeling away, however, not wanting her to sense it. "Maybe I just like the sound of your voice, Rey."

"Shut up and get moving, scavenger." She growled, her shoulders tense with rage. "And if you call me that one more time during your stay here, you will regret it."

Ben smirked and stood. "Okay." Was all he said, pleased with himself. Her signature radiated her harsh feelings towards him, though the way her body was tensed was well enough of an indication.

He started off in the direction they had been walking before, being sure to brush her arm with his as he passed her. She remained tense, and he didn't feel her follow him for a long moment.

Within no time, she had passed him and he was back to sluggishly following her. They walked for another ten minutes before he could see it. A tower, much like the one he could sense Snoke in stood in the distance. He stared at it for a long while, pondering its height. They were definitely still a mile away, and it was already monolithic.

"That whole building is a library?" He asked, breathless. The pounding in his head had not dulled, though it was easy to ignore at the wonder he felt.

"Most of it, yes." Kyla Ren replied, though her voice was quiet due to the short distance that stood between him. "The upper half served as living quarters for those in training, and was available to any Force user who needed refuge." She had stopped walking to let him catch up, "The Force is strong in this area, can you feel it?"

"Yes," Ben said, in awe as he continued to stare at the temple. "It doesn't feel dark, though. Or light, for that matter. What is this place?"

"Moraband is known as the planet that the first race of Jedi were trained upon. It was later made into a Sith landmark by Darth Plagueis. Both sides of the Force have lived here for centuries, sharing space. Supreme Leader calls this planet the Gray World, because it is neither black nor white. Moraband holds perfect balance within the Force."

"It's beautiful." They had continued walking at that point, Ben's eyes moving from the temple ahead of them to where Ren walked beside him. She merely nodded in response, moving slightly to the left as to put distance between them.

When they finally approached the yawning mouth that served as an entryway, another half an hour had passed. Moraband's sun had begun its descent on the horizon, casting shadows from the rocks that towered on either side of the temple. Ben gazed up at the building – it sat at least 60 stories high, and with amusement, he wondered if any Jedi or Sith would even want refuge in a place where they'd have to climb so many stairs.

Kyla Ren had already mounted the steps in front of them, and looked back at him questioningly. "C'mon, scavenger, we haven't got all day." Ben started up the steps then and joined her where she was waiting at the entryway. He could feel the Force all around him here, and he reveled in it. It was beautiful in its nature, and his headache and aching feet seemed to fade away completely. The weight of his body lifted from him, and he closed his eyes, soaking in the feeling of the Force surrounding his very being. It wrapped around his soul, and set him free.

He wondered for a moment how he could ever not want this again.

Kyla Ren stared at him, and when he looked in her direction, her head snapped back to look ahead of her. "There is a barrier we must pass through to get in," She told him, gesturing to the empty archway in front of them. "Be wary of your mind." Slowly she stepped forward, only to freeze the second her foot touched the inside of the entryway. Suddenly, she was wretched backwards, landing on her knees at the top of the stairs. Immediately, he could feel her confusion. Kyla Ren's head darted upward, staring at the height of the temple. "I don't understand." She said, as if she had been talking to someone other than him. Her metallic voice almost sounded pained.

 _No armor, or weapons, little dark one._

The voice rung through Ben's head, and he would bet three portions that she had heard it too. He looked at her in confusion.

"Of course." She said to herself, before letting her robe drop from her shoulders as she had at the boulder. "The library is a peaceful place, it does not allow anyone in who could do it harm." Kyla Ren explained when she saw his perplexed look. After the robe, she removed tunic. Ben turned his head away, merely trying to be polite though his mind wanted him to look.

Such a little boy.

When he looked at Kyla Ren again, he was surprised to see her arms. They were toned, which he had not expected – much like Han Solo's skin color. Her porcelain skin looked soft, as it had when he'd seen her hands. He was even more surprised to see her face, having not even heard the helmet's hiss of release. The scar that stretched across her face was the only imperfection that marked it, and in the light of Moraband's sunset, she looked more beautiful and dark than the last time he had seen her. She unclipped her lightsaber from her belt, tossing it on top of her pile of clothes. She stood in an elbow length undershirt, and dark leggings. Ben stared at her for a long time, taking in the sight of her. She met his eyes after she'd arranged her clothes into a neat pile, and _blushed._ He ignored the angry look that crossed her eyes and focused on the flushing of her cheeks.

"Go on then, scavenger." Her voice rung out in the silence, and he cleared his throat.

He turned and stepped through the entryway, and he was met with no resistance. Looking around the large cavern, he breathed in the air around him. There was a thick smell of dust, with an undercurrent of electricity. The Force flowed freely around him, wrapping him in itself over and over. The walls around him were black, and before him stood a staircase, leading up to the next level of the temple. There were symbols on the walls, symbols that he couldn't read.

He caught a few lines in the Sith language, as well as a few other languages, though he did not take time read them.

"Would you like to see the library, or are you going to stand there like an idiot?" Ben had hardly registered that Kyla Ren had passed through the barrier behind him.

He nodded slowly, looking at her face, "Lead the way." He gestured an arm towards the staircase, catching her hazel eyes in the low glow of the torches that lined the far corners of the room.

Kyla Ren rolled her eyes, before making her way towards the stairs. Ben followed, wonder flowing from his very soul.

He would enjoy this place very much, he thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Kyla Ren continued her ascent to the next level of the temple, no longer caring whether or not the scavenger boy was following. Her mind raced with memories of these stairs – playing on them as a kid, watching Uncle Luke use Force speed to carry her to the highest level to look at the stars outside. She felt a stab in her chest, and she reeled herself in. It only harmed her to think of things like this, she knew. But at moments, she couldn't help it. She hated herself for it.

This is where she had trained, before Luke began the academy. She was only a mere child, no older than 7 years old. Although, Luke Skywalker had been training her in balance and thought since she could walk. She had been back here a few times since then, and each time was easier than the last. The first time had been retched.

Ren had been 17 years old, and she nearly tore apart the third level of the library with her Force tantrum.

Ben was silent as he walked behind, doing his best to not appear as if he was still staring at her. Instead, she could feel him concentrating on the Force around him. It made a part in the back of her mind laugh with annoyance. He had been so opposed, but here he stood in the face of the Force itself and is convinced. Kyla Ren could almost see it on his face.

The walls around them were lined with torches, equally spaced about two feet apart from each other. They ran up the entire length of the staircase, Ren knew. The Force had kept them burning now for over 2,000 years. She pushed that thought towards Ben, too deep within her own thoughts to speak them aloud. She felt the scavenger's wonder at her mental statement.

"How is that even possible?" The boy had stopped then, and Ren turned around ready to snap at him when she saw he was admiring one of the torches. "There's not even any smoke coming from them, how does it not burn the wood?"

Kyla Ren arched an eyebrow at him, "The Jedi froze them in place from the time they were lit, and the Force holds it this way. They burn, and move and let off light but they are time locked, burning the same small portion of wood over and over." She explained, "Come on, there's still a lot to see and we took a very long time getting here. We might even have to sleep here, Moraband is too cold to walk through at night."

The scavenger boy seemed exasperated at that. Ren rolled her eyes before continuing up the stairs. The ascended for just a few more moments before she stopped once more. When Ben caught up to her, she motioned him to the right. He looked at her, then at the wall she'd pointed to. "Am I supposed to do something to the wall?" He asked, clearly perplexed.

"Use your feelings," She replied, leaning back against the stone opposite to him. "The Force will tell you what to do."

"Why don't you just tell me?" He quipped back.

"It will not allow you into the room unless you know how to open the door, idiot."

Ren heard him sigh, and he turned from her. Facing the wall, he sat down cross legged putting his hands on his knees and closing his eyes. He sunk into a meditative state in a short few seconds, and Ren was distantly impressed.

While he was meditating, she supposed she should think herself.

What would happen if Supreme Leader found out about them being here? She wasn't technically breaking any rules, he didn't tell her that she could go nowhere. But, she figured he would not be too happy. At this point, if he decided to kill her she would not be surprised.

There is a chance that he felt their presence, though doubtful with the distance that spanned between them and his temple.

It was not as if she didn't deserve death. For a while, Supreme Leader had regarded her as the strongest force user currently alive. Ren supposed Supreme Leader still thought that, only it was masked by anger towards her repeated failure. She was far from the strongest, and most certainly a failure. The Dark Side lived within her, but it grappled with the spirits that were her family. She had accepted that long ago, though it never failed to torment her just the same. She had tried to turn the feelings into an asset, but that had failed as well. The light called to her, and she refused to be seduced. It was a constant dance, and she always won, though it brought pain later.

Ren knew what Snoke was trying to accomplish with training the scavenger, and though she opposed it she knew she could not fight it.

He wished to take Ben on as a new apprentice, and kill her. There can only be two, and because of that she was doomed to sealing her own fate.

She disregarded Snoke out of spite, now. Childish, like she often was when thwarted. Distantly, Ren wished he would just get it over with. She could not disobey him, out of loyalty. So he tortured her with time, sort of like when she was a child but also hugely different. Kyla Ren's death had been locked, and she felt stupid for putting her head down and taking it. She wanted to stab her lightsaber through that scrawny face of his.

If Supreme Leader wanted her to train the boy, she would. Properly. Learning the texts of the ancient Jedi are vital in becoming one with the Force. Lightsaber forms, both Sith and Jedi were to be learned as well as the histories of both sides. Whether or not the light and dark constantly sparred, they worked together in some ways. Learning this was important.

She hadn't told Ben she'd planned to have them stay here. Supreme Leader could not reach her here, the Force too strong to penetrate and she would not go back to the prison that was that Star Destroyer. Here, there was plenty of rations and a 'fresher and rooms to sleep in, though far above them.

Again, spite.

By the time Ben had finally managed to open the door, Kyla Ren had slid down the wall and was sitting on a stair. She'd stared at him while he meditated, and a small part of her wondered whether or not he really could be turned. His very soul radiated light, though his anger was definitely one of his largest problems. On multiple occasions, Ren had felt him repress it. It had irritated her at first, she had felt like strangling him or kicking him in the jaw to get him to react. Though, that would benefit her more than him. Now, it was almost to be expected.

Ben did not want to become a creature of the Dark Side. Kyla Ren sensed that he was just barely coming to terms with even being able to use the Force at all.

The wall cracked and grumbled, until it disappeared altogether. Ren stood up, pleased before heading into the doorway. Ben had stood as well, and he was gasping, his eyes wide as he stared at the floor. She moved to stand in front of him, furrowing her eyebrows as he continued to pant. After a moment of staring at the floor, he looked up and met her gaze, shaking his head. "I'm fine." She arched an eyebrow before turning to step through the doorway. Ben followed.

"This is the first floor of the library." She said, watching his eyes search the large room in wonder. The ceiling was low, but the room was long and wide. Books upon books were stacked on wooden shelves that looked to be built into the walls. There were more bookshelves strewn about the room, and Ben thought distantly that it wasn't exactly neat. However, there were at least 5,000 books in this room alone.

"Where do I even start?" Ben said, his eyes falling on Ren.

She looked at him for a long moment, her eyes searching his face before she walked over to the shelf in the farthest corner of the room from where they stood. She looked there for a moment, her fingers trailing across spines.

After a moment, she pulled a book from the shelf. "Here we are." She turned to him, "Start here, scavenger boy. You'll know what to read next." She tossed the book in his direction as she neared him. "I'm going to go prepare the sleeping quarters."

"Wait," He said as she passed. She paused, looking at him over her shoulder, "I want to know a little more about this place." He said to her, "Please."

Ren's eyebrows furrowed, "What is it you want to know?" She asked, her voice sounding on edge and annoyed.

"About Moraband." He backed away from her, before sinking to the floor cross legged as he'd done in the hall.

Kyla Ren glared at him before sighing, sinking to the floor as he did. "What about Moraband?" She asked lowly.

"I read before it was a planet of red sands that had been abandoned. This planet isn't red."

Ren nodded, "Overtime the sand compacted and created rocks. The reason they are grey is because of the flow of rain, though lots of the planet is still red. You must understand, the Sith lived here thousands of years ago. The Sith Order was formed and fled after many wars were fought on Moraband's surface. After that, the Jedi returned and watched the planet heal itself."

"Is Darth Bane really buried here?"

The question threw her off guard, "How did you know that?" She said after a moment.

"I read it in a holobook about a week ago." He mused, "Master Yoda had written he'd found the presence of him here."

"Yes…..Darth Bane was buried on Moraband. Do you know who he is?" Kyla Ren cocked her head to the side.

"Yes. The first Sith Lord." Ben's response was short, and it made Ren narrow her eyes.

"No, not the first. The only to survive after the Jedi eradicated all of them."

"Were the Sith not powerful enough to fight back?" With that, Ren stood.

"There are Sith history books on that shelf over there." She said irritably, her tone biting. She pointed to a shelf about 20 feet to Ben's left.

"I don't care about the history books." Ben said after a moment, staring up at where she stood. "I'm trying to make friends with you."

Kyla Ren stood there in silent shock for a few moments, before she threw her head back and laughed, "Why?" She questioned, walking menacingly closer to him and scowling. She wanted to kick him.

Ben stared at her, "Because it's quite obvious that you brought me all this way to keep me here and now I must tolerate you until you decide to take me back to the Star Destroyer." His tone was flat. Kyla Ren was surprised by his honesty.

"I'm glad you caught on. But we needn't be friends. I gain nothing from speaking to you." With that, she walked towards the doorway, "Read, relax. It's important that you learn."

Ben sighed, looking down at the book in his hands before pulling back the cover. She didn't seem to be much into conversation, but Ben would help that if he could.

During meditation earlier, something had dawned on him. The Force had spoken to him and now, he held onto his hope of breaking free of the First Order and Kyla Ren.

 _You can convince her to kill him._ It had whispered, _Eradicate the darkness, and the light in Rey Solo will prevail. Bring balance….live._

For the first time in close to a month now, he felt as if he might get out of her clutches unscathed. A long shot, by all means, but he would take that chance.

He would have to try another approach. It seemed talking to Kyla Ren didn't make her like him anymore.

* * *

Kyla Ren plopped down onto a cot, the one closest to the door. The room was lined with them, reaching to about 30 cots per room. She had just climbed about 60 stories, and even though she used to Force to rid herself of exertion her muscles throbbed angrily. She was sure Ben could find his own way up here, not that she really wanted to see him at the moment. _Friends._

Ren did not have friends, and distantly did not want any. She doubted the scavenger really wanted to be her friend regardless. Another taunt, though this one was weak.

Kyla Ren would be no more than happy to never speak to the boy again, though it wouldn't be quite productive in his training. She remembered that she had to remain polite and calm, or being in his presence might overwhelm her. She had done a good job thus far, she thought. Redeeming herself in Snoke's eyes was already far past impossible, she wasn't worried about that. So why, Ren thought for the first time, was she training him at all?

She didn't have to, really. She could leave, any time she wanted and let Supreme Leader train the boy as he had trained her. So why was Kyla Ren still loyal?

Maybe it was 14 years of pain that kept her here, 14 years of dedication and hard work that she'd like to have pay off in the end. 14 years without her family, and 14 years trying to prove to herself that she was worthy of Darth Vader's legacy.

Throwing it away did not seem to be an option. So, what was she to do?

She was not strong enough to kill him, though she had thought about it a few times. She's not even sure she would "overthrow" him, but rather kill him just to keep him from killing her. Ren imagined walking up to the dais, lightsaber in hand only to be met with the excruciating pain that he could direct at her at any moment. Or, the way he could hold her paralyzed in place while he tore her body to pieces. Or, how he could make her see images of her worst nightmares and keep throwing them at her until she clawed her own eyes out.

Supreme Leader broke Kyla Ren's heart, long after he broke her will and spirit. Her master despised her, and for the longest time she had looked to him as a father. Even as he trained her against mind attacks with terrifying dreams, or as he made her hover her own body over pools of acid. Though intimidating, he had never used the pain against her as he did nearly two weeks ago when she'd brought the boy to him.

Kyla Ren's life had no meaning anymore. She was without a master, without a purpose and without a family that missed her. She was alone.

She should just leave, she thought to herself. She could go live on some deserted planet until she died and maybe find peace with herself in the process.

And then, with a horrific realization Kyla Ren realized that she was terrified of Snoke finding her if she did. Her loyalty stayed to him out of fear of death and also disappointment.

She wondered if she had always been this pathetic.

* * *

"Hey, wake up." Ben shook the girl awake, his hand touching her shoulder lightly. "There's a bit of an issue."

Kyla Ren's eyes cracked open, and she jumped. "What do you want?" She hissed at him, her hand going to her hip only to remember that she had left her lightsaber outside with most of her clothes.

"I can't really find the kitchen and neither of us have eaten in about two days now."

Ren groaned, plopping back down. They had now been at the library for three days. She had moped through most of it, staying to the upper levels that he would not bother her.

"There is no kitchen." She quipped back.

"Well can you at least show me where to find the rations? Quit being difficult, you need to eat too."

Ren's eyes landed on his face, and slowly she sat up. Her face got dangerously close to his, as he had been kneeling on the floor next to her cot. Her anger tinged. "Get out of my room, scavenger boy. I'll meet you in the hall in five minutes."

She felt his breath on her lips for a moment, and he began leaning in slightly more. She reeled backwards, jumping off of the cot. Her hip crashed into the other nearest cot, causing it to then crash into another. The noise was obnoxious. She stood looking at him, and if she could burn holes into his flesh with the hazel color of them she would. His eyes never left her face. "My name is Ben." He said quietly, his eyes trained on her mouth. He stood quickly then, seeming to come back to himself. Kyla Ren could hear his heartbeat from here, and she smirked. There was a constant battle, between him making her uncomfortable and her using his attraction to fluster him. He walked from the room then, still looking at her. His eyes were burning.

The sight made something stir deep in Ren's stomach, and she ignored it. She sat back on the cot, pulling on her boots and running her fingers through her hair. Once more, she questioned why she was still here.

Ben stood in the hall outside of the room, trying to catch his breath. He wanted to run back to his own rooms as to not have to look at her face again, however he was absolutely starving. His stomach ached from the lack of the food on top of running up and down 60 stories of stairs to go to sleep at night. He contemplated bringing some of the books back up here, but figured that Ren would be fully against that notion. She never came with him, and never even saw much of him besides their daily Force routines which took place in another sleeping room. They had pushed all the cots onto one side of the room, or rather _he_ had and she'd made him use the Force to do so.

She was avoiding him, which made it easier for him to form a plan in his head. Somehow, he would get her to warm up to him. Even after three days, however, he could not decide how. Talking to her only seemed to anger her. Attempting to kiss her only seemed to anger her (not that that had crossed his mind), breathing the same air as her angered her.

Around him, he could feel herself reeling in. Even when they had dream meetings, which had only been once since they got here, she avoided speaking to him in any way besides educational.

Kyla Ren truly did not care much for him, and Ben understood why. Though he thought she was being rather childish, he understood. However, he needed her to be. In order to defeat Snoke, they would have to work together, which they could not do if she constantly wanted to kill him.

He needed a new plan, because she would never allow him to get close enough for them to become friends.

Next to him, the door opened and Ben met her eyes as she emerged from her rooms. Sunlight shone into her hazel eyes from one of the nearby windows, and Ben's breath caught in his throat for a moment.

"This way, scavenger." She said lowly, avoiding eye contact with him. She led him down the hall and back towards the staircase, where they descended a few levels. She turned left towards a wall and held her hand in front of her. Ben felt the Force as it surged from her and the wall disappeared into a doorway, as it had on the first level.

Entering the room, Ben looked around quickly. All of the rooms here looked the same, though the contents were different. The room was mostly bare, besides a few cabinets and a table sitting in the middle of the room.

"You can find rations in all of these cupboards, as well as containers of water and some snacks if you look hard enough." She stated, pointing to one of the nearest cupboards. "When you are finished eating, join me in the training room." It wasn't much of a training room, Ben's thoughts quipped back.

"You should eat too." He said quietly to her, "You can't really teach me if you're too starving to see straight." Walking over to one of the cupboards, he pulled out a few packets of rations. He rummaged for a second, before producing two water containers as well.

He turned to her, holding the food out to her. Kyla Ren's eyes stared into his for a long moment, before she looked down. She took a seat at the table, motioning for him to sit across from her. The scar on her face glinted under the torch light. Most of the rooms did not have windows, however Ben preferred it that way. Her dark skin seemed to glow under torch light.

Ben set the rations and water down on the table, sitting across from her.

"Do you feel you have learned anything?" She asked in her normal teaching voice, after they had both ripped into the ration packets.

"Yes, however history books are awfully hard to pay attention to." He mused, trying to talk to her as if she was a companion. "Oh, and I found these. I've been sort of neglecting my studies a little, to practice spinning them." He produced two steel beads, about the size of acorns.

"Those are training beads." Kyla Ren said, holding her palm open and using the force to call the two metal balls to her palm. Slowly, Ben watched them rise and then spin around each other. It looked effortless for her, though he had spent many hours trying to manipulate them.

"So how do I do it?" He asked, taking another bite of his ration and pushing away his irritation towards her ease.

"Don't think about manipulating them," She replied, "Manipulate the air that surrounds them." She dropped the beads then, holding them back out to him. She continued to eat, this time silently.

"If I said I had a proposition for you, would you agree to hear me out?" He asked suddenly, after a long moment of silence. She looked up at him, her eyebrow arching as she chewed.

"It depends on the proposition, scavenger."

Ben gulped then, setting the ration bar down and clearing his throat. "Set me free." He stated, and amusement dotted her eyes. She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off, "Set me and free and I will go to Luke Skywalker and bring him back to assist us in killing Snoke."

Ren froze, her eyes turning from amusement to bewilderment to anger. "Kill Snoke?" She scoffed, "What you're asking is treason, scavenger boy." Her voice held no malice, though it was dripping from her facial expression. "Luke Skywalker? You think that old fool could kill –" She cut herself off, laughing quietly for a moment. "You're more stupid than I thought you were."

"Not Luke alone, no." He replied, remaining calm. "But I have felt your apprehension towards your leader, and I know that you believe he wishes to kill you and take me under his wing instead. I will tell you right now that I have no intention of turning to the Dark Side. I was trying to bait you into being companions with me, so we could work on a mind connection that would help us during battle. However, that has not worked."

Kyla Ren stared at him, her eyes slit and angry, "You know nothing of how I feel." She spit, "What gave you this ludicrous idea that you could help me?"

"When I opened to the door to the first level, I heard a voice tell me what I should do."

"Whose voice? Obi-Wan? He was as foolish as you are, scavenger."

"No, not Obi-Wan. I believe it was Darth Bane, but I could be wrong."

Kyla Ren reeled forward, her fist connecting with his face before he could move to stop her. He felt his back hit the ground, and suddenly she was on him, her hands poised around his throat. "You're wrong – about everything. Do not assume to know something you do not understand." She spit, leaning down to stare him in the eye. Ben felt his anger burst forward, and he sent a hard shove at her chest with the Force. She was flung backwards, hitting the far wall with a grunt.

Her eyes turned near black as she darted back towards him, jabbing him in the stomach with a harsh kick. Ben 'oofed', but caught her ankle, spinning her to the floor. She crumpled, before putting her weight onto her arms and hopping back up, almost immediately. She jumped then, her legs encircling his neck and he felt her body weight pull. Ben flipped through the air, landing with a thud on his back.

"C'mon, Kyla Ren. We could end this." He said, coughing as he tried to catch his breath. Her foot rested on his chest.

"It never ends, scavenger. Haven't you realized that yet?" Her voice was tortured. "He will kill me, and your beloved Skywalker, right before he kills you. Snoke does not care for any of us, or anything. Do not underestimate him."

"But you wish to be free of him, do you not?"

"No!" Her foot pressed down on his chest, and he gasped for a moment, "I wish to be worthy, you idiot. This is your fault!"

Ben only realized then that her face was wet with tears he had not seen fall. "Rey…" Her fist connected with his face again, and before she could move away he grabbed her wrists. He used all the upper body strength he could muster to pull her to the ground, pinning her limbs so she could not move again. His face was level with hers. "Rey, if we work together we can kill him." He looked into her face, and watched doubt passed through her eyes.

"No, we can't. And do not call me that." Her voice was barely a whisper, and Ben stared at her lips while she spoke. Slowly, he leaned down, hardly being able to help himself.

He was more surprised that she didn't move to fight back, only stayed still beneath him. "You're an idiot, and you can never win this."

"Will you allow me to try?"

"No." And then Ben felt himself being pulled down, and for a second he thought she was going to hurt him. Suddenly, his lips pressed against hers, and he felt her shudder. For a moment, he struggled against it, before the feeling of her mouth against his overtook him. His eyes closed, and he leaned into her, his hands supporting himself on either sides of her head. Her hands had come to a rest on his shoulders, pulling him down further before she flipped. One split second had passed and suddenly she was straddling him, pinning him down and she kissed him once more. Ben's head swam, and his heart felt as if it could explode. She kissed him with anger, with sadness, and with darkness all in one. The smell of her overtook him, and he couldn't help but let out a small groan when her tongue prodded at his lower lip.

"Idiot." She whispered against his mouth. Ben's hands locked around her small waist in response, pulling her down further as to kiss her deeper.

Never in Ben's life had he kissed someone, much less to this degree. His mind was screaming at him to stop, to strangle her for rendering him useless against her.

This was Kyla Ren, the woman that had stabbed Han Solo through the chest. She had tortured Ben, ripped him from his friends and almost killed Faye. She had been a part of the attack that destroyed over 5 planets, and she had murdered countless people. After a moment, Ben could feel her breath began to labor, and he surged out against her.

His hand came to her throat and he shoved her off of him. She landed once more against the far wall, staring at him, her lips parted and puffy from kissing him.

Ben heard the wail escape his mouth before he knew what was happening. He yelled, saying nothing but feeling everything. Before he knew it, tears had begun streaming from his eyes and he stood, darting from the room as fast as his legs could carry him. Away from the beautiful dark girl with the porcelain skin and down the steps that led to the first level of the temple.


	6. Chapter 6

***** Author's Note: Sooooooo, I still haven't gotten many reviews from you guys but again it would be fantastic to hear from you! My updates will be irregular seeing as I have work and such to attend to. My tumblr is kylowrench, and it's probably easier to message me on there.

This chapter is going to be weird, but I need to get it out of the way so that I can move on with major plot line. This needs to happen here, so I hope you guys enjoy some little lemons.

 **Chapter 6**

Ben couldn't remember exactly how he'd ended up at this point. His mind was in disarray, between his conflicting feelings about the Force and his conflicting feelings about the girl. He hated this – constant anger and anxiety but also found honor in the power that had been granted to him through the Force. He did not deserve such a beautiful burden – he had done nothing to deserve it. Though, he imagined that it had always been with him. The times where he couldn't find something to scavenge, something always guided him to another wrecked ship. He had always been kind natured at heart, sometimes giving up parts to feed the elderly that dwelled on Jakku rather than himself. Regardless, he did not know how he was ever going to effectively master this new power.

If only his parents had been other people, he would not be where he was right now.

His back sagged against the wall of the first floor of the library, and he had not moved from that position for quite a few hours now. Kyla Ren had not followed him down here, and it made for a nice solitude. She was probably questioning herself just as he was.

The darkness that was the woman was blinding, paralyzing, but also mesmerizing. Ben could not go on like this – wondering if she was going to just snap one day and strangle him to death. Especially now, he knew that she was not pleased with herself.

But after all, they were both only human, and human contact was sometimes the only reprieve from whatever war a person might have raging behind their eyes. He knew that Kyla Ren had plenty.

Her mixed emotions threw him off, but they always had. She wanted to live up to her grandfather's legacy – but Ben had read about Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker. He could not comprehend how she'd decided to become the very evil that he escaped before his death, all while thinking it was the right thing to do.

Kyla Ren saw Darth Vader as a failure, seduced by the enemy and falling into its temptation.

The only conclusion Ben could come to was that Ren wished to bring balance to the Force by eradicating the Jedi. That had, after all been Anakin Skywalker's destiny, hadn't it? The Chosen One?

Ben could feel a migraine coming on, and this time it had nothing to do with the atmosphere.

He needed to get out of here. He couldn't take the ship, for she had set a code-lock onto the controls. He could run away, but odds are Kyla Ren would only come after him with Supreme Leader on call for punishment. She would succeed, Ben wasn't very fast and the gravity here made it hard for him to even climb the stairs without an overwhelming amount of exertion.

No, he had to find a way to talk to the Resistance. He knew no one there, except Chewbacca. If he could find a way to send a holo to the Falcon, he might be able to get out of here.

If Faye was alive, maybe she could convince them to come as save him. She had before, after all.

Ben needed to get to Luke Skywalker. If there was a way to kill Snoke, Master Luke would know. He no longer wanted to sit idly by while Kyla Ren had delusions of control over him. Before, it was in stake of his life.

But now that his lips had touched hers, he was not sure he would mind dying if it meant he would never have to kiss her again. It had sent too much shame through him, and he should be ashamed.

He'd enjoyed it far too much.

Ben stood up then, an idea coming into his mind faster than he had time to comprehend. He was across the room in a flash, standing in front of the bookshelf that he had found held Jedi knowledge.

Force communication; if he could find a way to contact Luke Skywalker through the Force, he could ask him to call the Resistance.

Ben knew, in the back of his mind that this was a very hard thing to attempt. Probably near impossible with how little he knew about manipulating the Force. However, he had to try.

Scrambling over spines, he finally found the right book. The book was written in some other language, but his mind translated it instantly. _Telepathy Between a Master and his Padawan_.

It would have to do.

* * *

Three more days passed with a blink, and Ben had not ventured back up the stairs. He had spent his time reading through the old, frayed pages of the book. He fell asleep here and woke up here, only leaving to relieve his bladder and sneak into the mess room for rations once a day. He did not see Kyla Ren, though he felt her signature lingering in the floors above him. He had sensed anger and resentment, and she had been purposely keeping to her rooms. They had not trained, and Ben had been practicing the few techniques she had taught him in between his reading sessions.

The first technique he wanted to keep intact was the Force push. It had served him well once already. The second was hovering himself in air, letting go of his unusual weight and floating up the ceiling repeatedly. The third was meditation – though this was a bit trickier for him. He could fall into meditation quickly, though keeping concentrated was his problem. His mind had taken the form of the stars from his dreams on the Star Destroyer. The points of light were as bright as ever, give or take a few, and with hours of meditation he'd even been able to find Ren's star. It had been the dimmest of all of them, though what little life it gave off was red. The corners of the star blistered and cracked, much as her lightsaber did.

The reading was much different than being taught face to face. It was tedious, and thus far, he'd established that a telepathic connection through the Force requires some knowledge of that person. He needed to have a feeling or a memory to reach out with. With whatever thought was available, he could reach out and leave a temporary imprint in another person's mind. This was often used in battles, when Jedi would need shared information to defeat an adversary.

He'd meditated on this as well. He did not know what Luke Skywalker looked like, or what being in his presence felt like. So, he concentrated on the stories he'd heard about him. Once so far, he thought he'd been able to grasp at one of the stars in his mind. However, it had faded out of his reach quickly.

Ben spent hours like this – practicing, meditating, reading. Over and over until his eyes hurt from skimming across words and his pride hurt from accomplishing nothing.

It was about midday on the third day when he'd heard footsteps coming from the doorway. Someone was coming down the stairs, and as there was only one other person in the building Ben scrambled to hide the book from view. He sat quickly in the middle of the room, closing his eyes and drifting back into meditation.

A long moment of silent passed – the footsteps had stopped. Ben could feel her watching him, taking him in. "You don't need to stay down here," Kyla Ren said, and his heart burned at the sound of her voice. "I apologize for my…lack of self-control. We will put it behind us so that we may continue your training."

"No, thank you." Ben said without opening his eyes. He did not know if he had the strength in him to look at her face. "I'm doing just fine here."

He immediately felt the shift in her mood. She had been careful before, masking her feelings but now they came at him in a wave. It nearly knocked him backwards, and he struggled to keep his composure. He heard her breath quicken, and she tried to contain her malice as she said, "It's not really up for debate." He could hear her teeth grinding, "You've plotted treason, and I am letting you live. You are lucky I do not take you to Supreme Leader right now. You will return to your regular sleeping rooms, and meet me tomorrow morning in the training room. Are we understood?"

"No," Ben's own teeth grinded together in response. He still did not open his eyes, "I do not need you to train me. Take me to Snoke if you will, but I refuse to bow my head and accept this any longer. I was not meant to follow you, Kyla Ren."

"Look at me, scavenger." He jumped at how close her voice had gotten, and his eyes slipped open just the tiniest bit. She was only a few feet in front of him, crouched down. If it weren't for the look of anguish on her face, Ben would snapped his eyes closed once more and continued to ignore her. She looked tired, to start. There were heavy bags under her hazel orbs and her hair was uncombed. It did not satiate her beauty, which made a bundle of shame knot in the depths of Ben's stomach. "Up until this point, I have trained you in the Force. I have already taught you things that you could use to harm me, which you already have once. I have taught you things you could use to sneak into my mind, and to bend my will. If you really believe, for one second that I am intimidated by you, you are sadly mistaken. I do not care who you think you are, or what you think your destiny is. You will do as I say, or you will once more be a prisoner."

Ben stared into Ren's eyes, his breath catching in his throat as he repeated her words in his head. Though he did not feel much fear for her anymore, a spike of anxiety still rocketed through his veins. With as much courage as he could muster, he replied, "You do not even believe that yourself." He stated, his voice barely more than a whisper. "I have felt your lips on my mine, grasped the tone of your inner voice and you have done nothing to stop me from doing so. You are weak, in emotion rather than strength. I will not bend to you, just as you will not do to me. Your threats are empty. Kill me, imprison me. What difference does it make?" He was breathing heavily now, and her eyes glared daggers at him. "I will find a way to leave you, and the creature you call your master. When I return, I will kill him."

Kyla Ren's eyes watered as he spoke to her, and for a moment she looked as she had when he'd invaded her mind on Starkiller. Surprise at what he could do, and then anger, and then sadness. "And how do you intend to do that, scavenger?" Malice tainted her voice, though it was weak. He could sense her giving up. "You have no transport, no means of communication and not enough power in the Force to teleport yourself anywhere. All you have left to do is accept me – accept the dark side, and you will be free. In time, not only of me and Supreme Leader but also of yourself." Ben's head was shaking as her words, and as he was about to retort her voice cut off his words, "The Dark Side tempts everyone, Ben. It is calling to you, and within it you could have so much. You could kill me, without effort, and save your friends. You could end this war. Just let me in, and I will help you." The sound of his name on her lips made him shudder. "Ben Kenobi, the only survivor of my attack on Yavin4. There is a reason for that, did you know? I could tell you everything, show you what your parents looked like. I could show you your childhood. If you'll let me." Ben shook with the weight of her words. He knew this point would come. Back on the Star Destroyer, when he'd promised himself he wouldn't use anger as a key to the Force. He knew she would try to make him. To his dismay, he almost felt like agreeing. He could sense the influence behind her words, masked by a beautiful face that was pulling him closer towards her.

She was using her body language to convey a message to him, and it snapped him back to reality. She was still crouched in front of him, but her chest was pushed towards him, her arms looking as if they were going to wrap around him and pull him to her.

She was trying to use Ben's weakness of her looks to aid her in convincing him to yield. She was doing an awfully good job. Slowly, she reached out. Her porcelain skin connected with his own burning skin for the first time ever, and he closed his eyes. Her smell overwhelmed him, and for a moment he could feel himself readying to say yes.

He would give her anything, including himself if it meant he could just have her. He could know his life, and no longer wonder who he was. Ben could have 14 years of abandonment fulfilled with just one word. It wasn't until he could feel her breath on his lips as he had before that his composure snapped. He stood quickly, darting back ten feet as to avoid her proximity.

His heart raced in his chest. The need to be close to her was not like the last time, where it filled him with confusion and shame. It was unyielding, a deep feeling that pooled in the bottom of his stomach. He imagined her splayed out beneath him while he-

Ben shut off his thoughts, closing his eyes for a moment to try and contain himself. He was trembling. When he opened his eyes again, the look that Kyla Ren was giving him almost made him run back to her. Her hazel orbs were burning in their sockets, she was just as filled with need as he was. The thought made his stomach tighten even more.

With one last deep breath, Ben pushed out all thoughts of her. He centered himself within his mind, thinking of Luke Skywalker and his plan to reach out to him rather than the porcelain girl in front of him.

"I do not care what you can give me. The answer I want is not behind me, it is ahead." He understood Maz Kenata's words at that moment, and it gave him a swell of pride, "I do not feel the dark. My anger issues are something that can be tamed, and I do not need them. I am strong without them, just as I will be strong without you."

Within seconds, she was running at him. He had hardly had time to register that she had moved at all, before he felt his back hit the floor. She straddled him, her hands moving to the collar of his shirt before he could protest. His speech had done nothing to distract her, and he felt as if she had hardly heard him at all. With a gasp, Ren's lips connected with his own for the second time and his heart burst again. Ben could feel the desperation behind her kiss, and for a fleeting moment he wondered if she was even the same person he'd been living with for the past month.

No, she was not. This was not Kyla Ren – Kyla Ren was terrifying and full of hate, while the girl that Ben welded to him was soft and desperate for human interaction. Through her lips, he felt the light within her spark. This was Rey Solo, coming to the surface to beg for him to help her.

Ben would do all he could to do so, though he knew within just a few hours Kyla Ren would return to her former self and punish both him and her for whatever they were about to do. Though he could now feel her light, he could also feel her dark. It was banging at the walls of whatever cage she'd managed to lock it in. Rey Solo _wanted_ him – and Ben felt immediately that these were all the feelings that she suppressed in her lifetime coming to the surface. She kissed him with longing, and a never-ending expanse of anguish.

He flipped her onto her back, and trailed his lips down her throat. Her breath came out in pants in his ear, and he shuddered. His pants tightened at the sound.

Suddenly, Ben was embarrassed. He continued to kiss her neck, though with less enthusiasm as nervousness peaked at his awareness. He had never done any of this, and he didn't know what to do with his hands. He was positioned awkwardly over her short body, his limbs not wanting to do as he asked. Pulling back, he stared down into her face.

"Don't." Was all she said, and her voice was much different than he'd ever heard it. "Don't say anything. If you ruin this, I swear I actually will kill you."

Ben's eyebrows came together, a question forming on his mouth.

"Forget everything, for just a while." She whispered, leaning up to capture his lips once more, "I _need_ this, Ben."

With that, he sealed his mouth onto hers again, deciding in a flash of confidence to move his hands underneath the fabric of her shirt. The feeling of her skin beneath his fingers ignited a spark in him he did not know was there, and his breath quickened. "I've never…." He paused, speaking between kisses, "I don't know what I'm doing."

Rey laughed then, "Me either."

That only made Ben feel slightly better as his palm traveled up her shirt. He pulled back to look at her questioningly and slowly, she nodded. With a swell of embarrassment but also with enormous lust, he cupped her breast in his hand. The sound that escaped her throat was absolutely incredible, and Ben let go of worrying. He fondled her chest confidently, flicking his thumb across her hardening nub as his lips traveled down to her throat once more. He nipped at the skin of her pulse point, listening to the sounds that escaped her as he flicked his thumb once more. It was only a few more seconds after that Rey moved. Her hands caught the edge of her shirt, and she pulled it up, throwing it over her head.

Ben froze, looking at her with an expression of glory. He met her eyes, and he saw her smirk. The skin of her chest was tanned, just like the rest of her. Freckles dotted her collar bone and stomach, and her nipples were the color of pink roses. It was the first time he'd ever seen another woman, and he felt as if there could never be another more beautiful than this.

Coming back to himself, he bent down, his lips and tongue connected with the skin of her collar bone. He nibbled there for a moment, feeling her squirm beneath him and clench at his hair. Slowly, his lips trailed down, until his tongue met the point of her nipple and she groaned loudly. Her hips bucked up towards his and a noise similar to hers escaped his mouth as her heat rubbed against the tightness in his pants. "Please…" She pleaded loudly, her fingers ripping at his scalp as he sucked. With another swift movement, he had thrown his shirt off as well, kicking off his boots and moving to remove hers. Her fingers danced across his bare chest, and the feeling of her touching his skin gave him vertigo. It wasn't until he moved to grab the hem of her black bottoms that he stopped. His eyes met her hazel ones, and he could see a nervousness in them that masked his own. She nodded slowly once more, not taking her eyes off of his as he pulled them down past her hips. They jutted out beneath her skin beautifully, and he was once more taken aback. He leaned down to press soft kisses to both of her hip bones before continuing to pull her bottoms down her legs. He didn't dare look once she was fully exposed to him, not wanting to embarrass her. He did however make a mental note that she didn't wear undergarments, however he doubted that was something new. He threw her bottoms across the room with her other clothes, and kissed her again. "Ben….." She whispered his name, her own hands tugging at the hem of his trousers.

He felt her fingers chase the button, and after a curse later she had them undone. She shoved them down his legs, leaving him in his dark colored underwear that reached mid-thigh length. Her hand moved to cup his heat through them, and his head dropped forward. His forehead hit her shoulder, and he groaned. The sound was deeper than his usual voice sounded, and only got more desperate as she continued to palm him through the thin fabric of his undershorts. "Rey, holy stars….." He panted, and she rubbed him one more time before pulling her hand back.

"Take your shorts off." She panted, her hands now focusing on discovering the planes of her chest once more. He quickly did as she asked, thinking that if he waited any longer he was going to explode. His lower abdomen ached for release.

"I really, really have no idea what I'm doing, Rey." He said, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment as he settled himself back over her.

"Neither do I..Just…" She paused, not wanting to say anything awfully weird, "Here." She finished quietly before reaching down. Her porcelain fingers wrapped around his length and he groaned again. Her skin felt incredible and he almost couldn't contain the sounds that escaped him as she stroked him once, twice. Slowly, she lifted her legs around his hips, pressing the head of his erection against her.

"Wait, shouldn't I…prepare you or something first?" He asked into her ear, shuddering as he tried to keep from shoving into her with all of his strength. "I've heard before that it can hurt for you.."

"Don't worry about it." She said in reply, "Pain hardly phases me anymore, and if I'm being honest Ben, I'm almost 30 years old and I haven't once ever done this." She kissed him then, her lips syncing with his in a beautiful rhythm. "Just….go slow, at first."

He nodded, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed spit. "Okay…okay." He said quietly, panting again as he slowly pushed his hips forward. He felt himself moan loudly again, the feeling of her tightness around him completely consuming him. His head swam and he fought once more to not roughly shove into her. After a few moments, he was fully inside of her, and he stopped moving. He held himself up on his elbows, positioned on either side of her head as he shook with need. Rey's face was scrunched up, for only a small second before relaxing. She breathed deeply, before looking up at him. Her hazel eyes met his and she nodded.

"Move." She demanded, her voice strained with pleasure and pain.

Ben slowly moved himself out of her, before thrusting in once more. He was slow, trying to make it less painful for her though his body was on fire. He groaned loudly with each thrust, her walls slick against his length. After a moment, the pain left her face and she began moaning with him. Gradually, he picked up speed, until there was no nervousness left. There was only the two of them, and the Force surrounding them, wrapping them together in an endless void of pleasure and regret.

What was he _doing_?


	7. Chapter 7

******Wowie it's been about two months! Sorry guys, laptop broke and I don't have a phone so that made this impossible. I'm back now though! I'm sorry to the few of you who were keeping up with this for not updating. I will get back on it regularly now I swear!**

 **Anyway, here's a short one to get back into the mix.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Ben Kenobi was burning. Not in the literal sense, though it felt as much. The air around him was heavy with the scent of skin and heated breaths. His lungs felt as if they might burst, and as he stared down at the dark girl he thought they would. Her breath was calm now, however. Her eyelids were shut and her skin was bare.

She looked very peaceful, much as she had when he'd seen her previously in the sleeping hall. Kyla Ren was different here, calmer and less refined. The girl lying on the floor in a puddle of clothes was not the same woman that had stabbed Han Solo through the chest. This woman was endlessly broken, and Ben knew when she woke that would prevail. A lapse in judgement is what caused this, and he supposed that he should not be around to see her next.

Ben dressed slowly, staring at Ren the whole time, ensuring that she did not wake. Pulling on his trousers, he could feel his throat growing heavy. This was a terrible mistake, it happened too quickly and now there was so much to lose. His sanity, for one, and also his life. He felt cheated, and endlessly ashamed. Gathering the books he had been studying, he crept towards the doorway. His eyes never once strayed from the dark girl, who never woke. He left the room with a dull ache in the pit of his stomach – anxiousness.

* * *

Stepping outside was a bad idea, the weight of the atmosphere hit Ben once more, though with less malice than the last time. His head pulsed dully for a moment, and he stood in the doorway of the library to collect himself. Distantly, he wondered if she ever planned to leave here. It had felt like months, though it had only been around a week or so that Kyla Ren had trapped him in the library with no means of leaving. Still, he had no means of leaving, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. He stood there for a long moment, looking out over grey rock and seeing a red tinge he had not noticed before. The red seeped through cracks in the rocks, though it was a dull color, washed away by hundreds of years of rain and sediment.

As Ben stepped forward, he willed his thoughts away. Though his mind strayed on Ren, he willed her away just as well. Walking and meditating wasn't something he'd tried before, but he supposed he'd better try if he was to leave here without Kyla Ren catching up to him. He concentrated on what he'd studied again, reaching out with the force as he had before. The stars spanned out before him, as they did every time he meditated and he tried once more to grasp ahold of one of them. He thought of the stories of Luke Skywalker – of Han Solo's rescue from Jabba the Hutt's Palace. He thought of a green lightsaber, striking boldly. He thought of his vision on Takodana, where he'd seen a man with a metal arm and a blue and white droid.

 _Luke._ He repeated the name over and over in his head, and like before, he swore he felt his mind wrap around a single star. This star was dim, though it had a burning color to it. Bright yellow, with a hint of green. _I don't know if you can hear this, but please – My name is Ben. I need your help. Your niece has me trapped on Moraband. She wishes to train me in the dark side. Please. Help me._

The star snapped away from him just as he'd finished his thought, and Ben's feet halted. His eyebrows furrowed, and he stared at the ground for a long moment. His head pulsed, and he tried once more to sift through the stars, repeating his thought over and over.

After a while, he sighed. The stars swirled around him, and he lost track of what part of the Force he was looking at. His mind reeled at what else he could try – he'd read the book, over and over and there was no determining whether or not Luke had gotten his message.

There must be something else, he thought. There must be.

* * *

Ben walked for a long time, sometimes repeating the same method of reaching out to Luke, other times just taking in his distance from the library. It was only a speck in the distance now, and he had no idea which direction he should take. So he merely walked straight. Eventually, he hit Ren's ship. His stomach flipped at the thought of her, and he pushed that away as well.

 _Peace._ He repeated this to himself over and over, willing away thoughts of their time together. He would deal with the feelings later, when he felt much less inclined to run for his life. It was almost absurd, and distantly he wondered if it even happened. He wished it was a figment of his imagination, and if he wished hard enough he felt it true.

He continued past the ship, towards whatever lie on Moraband's horizon.

It was a long time before the solution hit Ben – and it hit him like a ton of bricks. He had just spent quite a long time with a certain Solo, and before that a few days with another.

He knew the Solo family, all besides one. And that one could send a whole battalion of ships to his aid.

With a new sense of perseverance, he shifted himself back into meditation. Ben ran through the stars, looking left and right – feeling for her. Leia Organa. She was a force sensitive, and Ben had slept with her child. He had much more knowledge of her than of Luke Skywalker. Desperately, he thought of what he knew of her. He thought of Alderaan, and the stories he'd heard of its destruction. He thought of Kyla Ren's face and how she might look like her mother. Ben thought of BB-8, who had mentioned her in passing once. Then Han Solo, who had told Ren that her mother missed her.

After what felt like forever, a star shot towards him. This one was also dim, however tinged with purple. It held no restraint as the green one had, holding onto his mind as he was holding onto it.

 _General!_ _Please! If this is you I need your help! My name is Ben – Faye may have told you about me. I am on Moraband, where Kyla Ren has me trapped. I've managed to run off, however I have no idea when she will find me. And I am certain she will. If you can hear this, please send help!_

And unlike the last time, Ben felt something in response. He felt understanding. A swell of pride went through him.

 _I am sending a ship right now – Poe Dameron will come to pick you up._ Ben gasped aloud, for he did not just receive these words within the vast chasm of stars – he **heard** them. _We will have to do this quickly, Moraband is not a safe place for any of the Resistance to dwell. Approximately two hours, find a way to start a fire five minutes before for a signal. We will be there-_

The voice cut off, and the star snapped away from him.

Enough had been accomplished. As Ben left meditation, a wave of vertigo washed over him and he realized just how hard his mind had been holding on. Leia had heard him. Hope rushed through him along with dizziness, and he fell to his knees.

Tears leaked from his eyes as he thought of being free from this – from her. Free from the hold she had on him and free from whatever wrath lay in the aftermath of their insufferable physical connection. Ben would never let that happen again. As much as he'd lusted the woman, and as beautiful as she was he knew that she was still the same woman that had killed Han Solo and a whole academy of young Jedi. Human nature had taken ahold of him in a rush, and now he would never let himself succumb to her again.

Ben would be free of this mess. He would get to Luke Skywalker and he would destroy the thing that tethered Ren to the dark side.

Maybe then, he could worry about whatever phenomenon had happened in that library. That was all it was – Kyla Ren was in no way appealing without her beautiful face and porcelain skin. So fragile, but not weak. She was as hard as stone and as terrifying as any nightmare.

Ben was running before he knew it, his long legs carrying him as far away from the library as he possibly could. He was only walking for about an hour now, and the sun was starting to set in the distance. He doubted that the dark girl was awake, for he was sure that if she had woken up he would feel it very significantly within the force. She would search for his signature and make chase, to capture him again and force him to live with her in that library until she saw fit. They had already been there longer than necessary, and he knew that Snoke would be incredibly unhappy when Kyla Ren emerged.

Ben did not want to be the brunt of her shame, did not want to look at the woman who had so deeply felt hours before. He did not want to train with her as if nothing happened, and he did not want to look at the dark girl and only see Rey Solo. He wanted to get away. She was running from Snoke, hiding in the library and he refused to run with her.

He ran for a very long time, and the sun had already set fully behind the horizon. The grey stone beneath his feet was grittier than before, with much more red poking from the cracks in the ground. He could no longer see the library in the distance. On every side of him, he could see nothing for miles.

Nothing to start a fire with either.

Quickly, he dug into his pockets. It would not be long now before Leia's pilot – Poe, BB-8's master – would be flying over the skies of Moraband in search for him. Maybe less than three quarters of an hour. Ben's chest was heaving having run as long as he had, and he had trouble for a moment getting his hand into the pouches on his tunic.

With luck, he found his handkerchief. He had last tried to give it to Ren within Snoke's throne room, and now he would use it to signal Poe Dameron of his location. It was good that it was dark, because he wasn't sure of another way this would work with such a small fire that this handkerchief would achieve.

Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground, ensuring that he caught his breath before he picked up two rocks on the ground beside him and got to work.

It was only a few moments after that he felt a burst of something in the Force – red hot and flashing into his field of consciousness. Anger, pain, shame, regret, dizziness. He received all of these feelings at once, and knew immediately what had happened.

The dark girl was awake, and she was furious. It was different this time, he thought, though he was far away these feelings were so much more intense. He felt weight on his shoulders, and a terrible ache in his head – a mixture of the ozone and Kyla Ren's plight.

 _You idiot._

This was all he heard in his mind before he got back to work, now rubbing the rocks together quickly in hopes to ignite a flame. He knew this would not work well without kindle, but it was his only hope. For miles, all around there was only red sand and grey stone.

 _Imbecile. Scavenger. Traitor. Kriffing hell where did you go?_

Ben continued to rub the two rocks against each other – desperately now that she was searching for him.

 _Why would you leave? Don't you understand? We can be together in the darkness, Ben. Who cares about anything else? Supreme Leader will be pleased with this – our shared power. Come back._

With a final crash of two stones against each other, a spark hit the handkerchief. Though it did not ignite, it filled Ben with hope. Kyla Ren was lying to him. He could feel it in the way the Force trembled along with her words. He could feel how angry she was, and how desperate she was to have him return.

Her life literally depended on it.

Suddenly, there was different sort of heaviness in the air. This made him gasp aloud, and he continued to rub the rocks together. Kyla Ren had stepped outside, it seemed like. Or, Snoke had caught on to what was happening – felt his presence maybe. The air felt as it had in the Sith Temple, and he almost choked on his breath.

With another clash of the stones, the hand rag caught flame. Quickly, Ben moved to crouch over it, willing himself to meditate. For a long moment, he stared at the small flame in desperation. He did not know what he could do to keep it burning, but he had to try. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a short moment and willing the flame to be larger. He used all he could – all the pent of frustration and sorrow he felt that he had not let himself feel. His family, Kyla Ren, Han Solo, Faye. He thought of them, thought of seeing everyone he loved again and he felt a swell of power in his chest.

The Force responded to him as it never had, and the flame burst in front of him. It kept itself burning now, large enough for someone to see from overhead.

 _Ben!_

The dark girl's voice in his head was in anguish now, but he willed it away. He could feel it now – she had stepped out of the library, and Snoke had been there to meet her. He felt the same pain she'd suffered in the temple during his audience with the goblin-like creature.

Still, Ben stayed resilient. He could feel Kyla Ren's pounding footsteps on the stone, toward his direction and the presence of Snoke himself trailing alongside her. He wished now that he'd properly learned to enter her mind. They were coming for him, and though he was miles away he sensed danger still.

With their experience in using the Force, they could easily get here within the next half hour.

Instead, Ben concentrated on keeping the fire going.


	8. Chapter 8

**This one is also going to be regrettably short. I'm suffering from a serious case of writer's block. I know what I want to have happen in this story, but I feel as if it's not coming out the right way on paper. I'm not a very experienced writer, so please bare with me.**

 **Hope my writing's not too shit, I'm feeling incredibly discouraged about all of this.**

 **Thanks!**

 **Chapter 8**

The stars were blinding, pulsing and shuddering with light and nearly completely obstructing Ben's mental vision. The Force flowed through him, out through his finger tips and he could hardly see his surroundings at all. He heard his name whispered, over and over and he desperately tried to cling onto his concentration as he felt the approaching signatures of the dark girl and her master. The fire continued to blaze in front of him, though it faltered when he did.

He thought about the torches in the library, and their neverending array of light. He willed himself to do the same – though it was not working like he wanted. The fire pulsed just as the stars did, dwindling and then bursting. His head hurt, and his hands were shaky and he was not experienced enough in the force to control the elements.

He knew all of these things, but still continued to try. He could not face her, and seeing her now was only going to salt the wound. Ben thought about Kyla Ren's smile, what it would look like and how sweet it would be if the woman he wanted so harshly was not one of such terrible morality. He hated her, but he wanted her to be different so much that it nearly fueled his power over the fire. The thought of her, Han Solo's hand on her shoulder, happy and full of life.

The stars pulsed brightly once more.

He tried to look at them, instead of seeing through his physical eyes. Not wanting to panic, he very nearly closed them. Kyla Ren and Snoke were drawing closer and closer and he could feel them moving at a speed he did not even think possible.

He thought distantly that he'd read about it, force speed. The power of the two of them combined was almost overwhelming, and whilst attempting to keep the fire going by sheer willpower he was also trying to block her from entering his mind.

"Scavenger!" He could hear her voice in the real world now, an echo in the wind that surrounded him.

 _Five more minutes, five more minutes, five more minutes…._

 _Faye, Han, AT-AT, Flight simulators…_

" _I'll come back for you!"…._

 _The Falcon….._

Strings of thoughts ran through his head, thoughts that made him happy. He concentrated on his greatest memories, willing the fire the continue blazing.

Willing for Poe Dameron to get here before they did.

Right on cue, he heard it – the sound of an X-Wing flying distantly overhead. He closed his eyes, pushing harder so that Poe could see him. The fire burst again, before Ben's will snapped. The girl was close – so close her could almost smell the rosemary. His heartbeat sped up.

Opening his eyes, he looked overhead. The X-Wing was heading right towards him, flashing through the sky in an alarming amount of speed. When it neared the ground about 20 yards from him, Ben took off running. The X-Wing hovered before slowly lowering, not wanting to harm anything with haste, Ben assumed.

"Ben!" He heard her cry, just as the X-Wing touched down. "Stop! Now!"

He continued to run. The pilot hood opened, and a dark head of curls emerged. The face sitting beneath it was urgent, waving him closer. "Hurry!" Poe Dameron yelled.

From behind him, Ben could almost hear the amount of power radiating from the two. They were perfect together, combining their power to make something nearly unstoppable. He felt Kyla Ren's signature picking at the edges of his mind, attempting to get him to open up.

" _How could you? After…. He will kill you now and I will not be able to stop him. Though, I suppose its better you than me. Goodbye, beautiful scavenger boy. I will not miss you."_ This was all that got through before Ben threw up his mental wall as high as he could, his feet pounding against the stone. He nearly tripped quite a few times, but kept his eyes trained on the X-Wing. Poe Dameron's face was one of panic, his eyebrows furrowed as he continued to wave him.

"Come on!" He yelled, "Ben!"

10 more paces and he would have been there, but his limbs froze in place. Collapsing, his breath whooshed through him violently. Terror shot through his veins as they approached, walking now. He didn't dare look at Kyla Ren, who glared at him violently. He was so close to getting away he wanted to weep.

"Stupid boy." He heard the creature's voice spit, nearing him quickly. Ben looked towards the X-Wing, where Poe was now aiming a blaster in his direction. "You should have…..just done what…..you were told." He kept his eyes on Poe, his lips moving to yell for him to shoot though no sound passed through his throat.

"Stay away from him!" Poe yelled, dismounting the pilot's seat and sliding down the side of the craft. He shot then, once his feet touched the ground and a blue bolt of energy whizzed past Ben's head. It made impact with something, he could hear whoever it was grunt and he felt Snoke's power over him falter.

Calling on the stars, he groaned loudly. "Please." He pleaded, his voice a whisper as he grasped at the stars, "Help." He was not sure whom he was begging, but his voice echoed in the expanse in front of him. He thought he felt them react, but he knew that was too good to be true.

Pain shot behind Ben's eyes and the stars were washed away by a haze of terrifying images. At first, they were subtle, and he could still see the light behind him. Slowly, they overtook his mind. He heard someone scream.

Kyla Ren was dead, her body skewed grotesquely from a large pillar of wood, impaled through the middle of her chest. Her eyes were wide, her mouth stuck in a permanent shape of terror.

Han Solo, a red lightsaber through his chest.

Faye, her neck snapped at an unnatural angle, dangling loosely from her shoulders.

He tried and failed to push the images away, tears leaking from his eyes as the pain in his head increased.

There was so much pressure, so much terror within his vast expanse of stars that he nearly passed out.

And then, suddenly the pain was gone. It had disappeared entirely, leaving behind such relief that he cried out.

"Keep your mind away from his, you filthy creature." He heard a voice say – though he did not recognize it. Slowly, Ben opened his eyes, his head still pounding from the invasion. When he caught sight of who was in front of him, he nearly threw up. He had never seen this man before, but he could nearly see through him. His features were fully pronounced, though it was as though he was a holo. Hazy blue light radiated from the man, his tall frame flickering occasionally. Brown hair flowed down to his shoulders, and he had a scar right beneath his right eye. His gaze was set in a menacing glare, and once more terror shot through Ben.

 _What?_

Kyla Ren and Snoke had obviously stopped their advancements, because he felt no more pressure and heard the dark girl's intake of breath.

He continued to stare at the man, not daring to look in the direction of the Supreme Leader and his beautiful apprentice. He did not want them to see the terror in his eyes.

"A Force spirit…." Snoke's slow drawl started, "How adorable."

Just like that, the unfamiliar man's hand shot out, looking as if he were grabbing air. "Leave here, and do not return." He said, his voice a low growl. Ben's head shot towards the other two after hearing a choking noise. Snoke's tall, spidery frame was hovering in the air, his long fingers grasping at his throat. Ben stared in awe, not imagining it possible. Snoke was so powerful, he could taste it on his own tongue. It had filled his mind and overtaken his movements and compelled a young girl to betray her family. But here this man was, force-choking the being as if it were easy. A force ghost..

Ben had read about them, but he did not imagine he would ever see one. It was incredibly rare and took a great amount of willpower from the Force to call those who have already passed through it to show themselves again. He had heard the voice of one before, when he'd had his first Force dream on the Star Destroyer. That had seemed so long ago, though merely weeks.

Through the pain, Ben distantly thought he was unworthy of the presence of such a powerful embodiment of the Force itself.

"How dare you, Jedi!" Kyla Ren yelled, moving to stand in front of Snoke. Ben regretted looking at her face, for there was blood dripping from her nose. Her face had red marks all over it, as if someone had repeatedly struck her. The man released Snoke, who fell back onto his feet. The tall creature stood up fully, glaring at the Force ghost. He seemed thoroughly surprised, though not injured at all.

"How dare you, Rey Solo." The ghost spat in reply, "You touch him again and I will rid the galaxy of both of your miserable existences."

"How do you know me?" Kyla Ren growled, her eyebrows knitting in anger and confusion. Snoke made no other move, merely staring at the ghost in utter neutrality. His face was void of any anger or confusion. The Supreme Leader knew exactly whom they were facing.

Ben could feel the Force radiating from the ghost now that his senses had returned to him, so much that it nearly overwhelmed him. He gasped, pushing himself up on his arms and dragging himself slightly away.

Poe Dameron ran towards him, his blaster still pointed. As he neared, Ben's eyes strayed from Kyla Ren to the ghost once more.

"Strong threats…..for a Jedi." Supreme Leader finally spoke, pushing Kyla Ren to the side, "Why, after all should…..we listen to…..you? This boy was ours – I…..claimed him. You have…..no place here…Skywalker."

"Sky-" Kyla Ren started, before a blue hand slapped her across the cheek.

"Silent, girl."

"I was never a good Jedi." The man replied, his eyes sliding to where Kyla Ren stood defiant next to her master. His gaze changed, almost looking sad. "And Ben Kenobi is to be protected. You will let him free, or I will bring all I know back to haunt you. I already failed to stop you once, with my granddaughter. I will not do it again. Ben, go. I can keep him from coming for you for a short amount of time. Hurry."

"So you believe." Snoke snapped, his face still remaining neutral. He was not at all intimidated, but something was clearly holding him in place.

Poe took Ben's arm, pulling him up and dragging him towards the X-Wing. Ben's arm was slung over the other man's shoulders, and his legs didn't want to do as he commanded. They dragged behind him, and the dark-haired pilot seemed to struggle with carrying him. He tried to lift himself to help, but it was merely useless. His mind reeled with what was happening. Snoke was rooted in place, Ben could sense the anger radiating from the being. However, he could not take his eyes off of the ghost for a long moment as him and Poe advanced further away from him.

"Darth Vader…" He whispered, so low he doubted any of them could hear it. However, he was wrong, as Kyla Ren's eyes snapped up to meet his. Her face was a mask of sadness, staring at him as if he'd been the one slapping her. "Thank you.."

His eyes never moved from her as Poe pulled him towards the ladder of the aircraft, nearly carrying Ben up into the cockpit.


End file.
